Patch was sent home from the war with fewer parts than he shipped out with.  Now he lives alone in his little house by the railroad tracks, over behind the paper mill.  He doesn't get a lot of visitors and doesn't go out a lot.

It doesn't really bother him to wear a patch.  He prefers it to the glass eye Uncle Sam gave him.  And he is grateful for the artificial leg, since it enables him to get around and do his shopping and other things.  But he does get weary of the stares.  People see him swinging that leg and then they see the patch and some times they forget not to stare and point.

That would all be fine except that a lot of well-meaning people want to feel sorry for him.  And that just makes him have to go back and deal with everything all over again.  He would rather move on to the here and now.  Life did not stop for him when he got wounded.  He was one of the very fortunate ones.  God was not finished with him yet.  And so he continues to live and work.  He just had to rearrange some things.

One thing has not changed.  Every night, before he hits the sack, Patch opens his old Bible at the kitchen table and spends some time reading.   The Bible doesn't talk a lot about wounded old soldiers.  Not directly, anyway.  But it does have plenty to say to men like Patch who have risked everything for God and country. 

The Bible doesn't pat him on the back.  In fact, it still cuts to the bone quite often.  But it helps him to keep his priorities right.  It helps to keep his heart on track for the days still ahead. 

Patch often says that he may only have one good eye and one good leg, but he still has a whole heart for God and a daily need for the goodness and grace of God.  Patch has learned that God is still God, no matter what comes our way.  And the Lord is able to take us, just as we are, and use us if we want to be a blessing.

May God bless all the men and women who face danger and death every day for the sake of others.  Every life is valuable to God.  Every human soul is important.  The little boy living in an Iraqi village is important, and so is the little boy at home who waits for his mom or dad to come home again. 

May the Lord see.  And may God hear the cry of every soldier's heart.  May the Lord bring lasting peace to a troubled world, and healing and salvation to every wounded heart.  Amen and amen.