Ode to Senior Chief Lizotte and to King Nebuchadnezzar
I was coming up on the end of shore duty and needed to choose my final tour in the Navy. I had to go back to sea, and amazingly a Trident submarine became available, a great thing compared to a Fast Attack submarine. You see, Tridents have a regular schedule for underway periods so that a person can schedule life outside the Navy. Fast attack subs have no set schedule and a hot-running sub can be called to leave in just a few hours. The family life on fast attacks can be very dismal and challenging; families are often ruined, but always affected in some way.
One day during my last months of shore duty I went down on a submarine to do my work on their electronic equipment. There, I met a sailor who knew the Senior Chief of my division on my soon-to-be submarine. This sailor, knowing my mild personality, advised me to think twice about going to my prospective future command. He told me about Senior Chief Lizotte, a tough man with a tendency for politics. If he liked you, because you played on his softball team, for example, you could do no wrong. If you ever got on his bad side, you were doomed for the rest of the time at that command. You couldn’t outlive the smear campaign he would wage.
But the Lord gave me calmness about my future. The Holy Spirit implanted the idea that this man must be a very honest man. He “called them as he saw them,” a very decisive man. But deep inside a thick, tough exterior was a heart of gold. Now I was excited to meet this man, who was made to look bigger than life. I am not aggressive; he would be very aggressive. I am not so quick-witted; he, a road runner, a Tasmanian Devil. I waffle badly; he would size up any situation with his vast library of experience and make an immediate decision with amazing judgment.
I knew I couldn’t measure up to him, except in one way. The Lord had previously given me a new heart, an eagerness to learn, and an earnest desire to please my supervisors and military commands by good performance. Senior Chief Lizotte would be able to teach me a lot, and he would also recognize the honesty in me.
From the first day onboard, I saw in my Senior Chief what others didn’t see. Yes, he was very demanding; yes, he ran his division with an iron fist. But how refreshing to see his love for his guys, and his fairness to all. No one was so much a favorite to him that he wouldn’t step on their toes when they messed up. He stepped on my toes often, but I deserved it, and felt very comfortable and content knowing I wasn’t singled out. The description of that sailor who warned me at my previous command was only partially true and colored by a misjudgment of my new Senior Chief’s character.
He often had a scowl, and barked his orders. But he also as often had a smile and a grin and was saying something funny (or that he thought was funny.) He didn’t hide anything of what he felt. I deeply respected this man, and came to love him as a great friend, though ever keeping it a working relationship.
He loved to joust, verbally. The one-upmanship, the constant challenging of each other is a military tradition he loved, and he knew how to play that game well. One of his Senior Chief friends was a religious man who had tried to share what he knew of God. When Senior Chief Lizotte figured out I was a Christian, he began plying me with questions about the Bible. Although not a church-goer, he knew some theological ideas, and he began to pit me against his Senior Chief buddy. Of course, his friend, as an evangelical Christian, understood the Bible very differently from me an SDA Christian. So this provided my Senior Chief with a new way to pass the boring hours underway! He would take my answer to a Bible question to his friend, who was not in my chain of command, but was my senior by rank. Senior Chief Lizotte would get a totally different answer from his friend, which he would bring back to me for a rebuttal. This went back and forth for a while, Senior Chief gaining increasing enjoyment out of it because it was a competition to him! I think he saw it as fencing—“Touché! Take this, and take that! Aha! I win, you lose!”
At first I thought Senior Chief Lizotte really wanted to know what the Bible says to us. But then he began countering what I said based on what the other Senior Chief had to say about it. Then I began to see the relish for competition on my Senior’s face, and I realized it was all just a game to him. After some more proxy debating with the other Senior Chief, via our little messenger, Senior Chief Lizotte, I ended it. The last thing I wanted was for the command to view me, a newcomer with no track record, as a religious extremist troublemaker, someone who didn’t take his military duty seriously and was onboard just to have fun, and thus bring dishonor upon God. But I also knew that, beside the game Senior was playing, my honesty and serious sincerity might be seen and remembered for some future purpose God had for him. He was learning truth compared to fable, and the seeds were being planted, even if he didn’t know it. God doesn’t just let misguided honest souls slip by unhelped. It’s His business to save us all.
Finally Senior Chief Lizotte left us and was transferred from our ship to his last shore duty before retiring. I never saw the least change in a desire for spiritual things, but I have faith that world-shattering events are shaping up just over the horizon, and he will be better prepared to make the soon-coming gigantic choice for heaven or for this world. I know the Lord will make the most of my witness to him.
I know why I was sent to that submarine, a highly sought after and difficult submarine class to get orders to. I was greatly surprised and happy when my Command Career Counselor told me a billet to a Trident was open because those billets are rare, since much politicking and behind the scenes work happens within the Trident community of sailors. An outsider, as I was, rarely finds a way into the Trident community. But I wasn’t given that submarine so I could have an easy life there. I was sent there for Senior Chief Lizotte, to learn from him and for him to learn from me. I came away from that ship with a new view on life, and a deeper trust in God and His ability to work for us.
Senior Chief Lizotte reminds me of King Nebuchadnezzar. Demanding, hard-fisted, brutal, fiery-tempered, the ultimate autocrat-dictator, they both were. Yet God called Nebuchadnezzar a head of gold, because “God, who quickeneth the dead, …calleth those things which be not as though they were.” Rom. 4:17. God called him a head of gold, because he had a heart of gold. Nebuchadnezzar was the reason Daniel walked 1500 miles with the rest of enslaved Israel. Nebuchadnezzar was why teenage Daniel witnessed the besiegement of Jerusalem—people limping around looking like string-beans, parents eating their children, and Babylonian soldiers storming the city and slaughtering thousands.
It was to reach Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel was constantly tested and finally approved of by the searching eye of the powerful king. It was for his majesty to learn a better way of life than paganism could ever provide. It was many hard lessons, but Nebuchadnezzar finally learned that we are just creatures, not our own Creator. We may be able to scare men, but our power is looked upon as nothing by God. All the fiery obstreperousness we can muster is nothing compared to His fury. Our little breath of wind, however angry and loud to us, is no match to God’s hurricane-force voice. Nebuchadnezzar learned that his Maker is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
And that was his final testimony. “At the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured Him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me: and my counsellers and my lords sought unto me: and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase.”
One day during my last months of shore duty I went down on a submarine to do my work on their electronic equipment. There, I met a sailor who knew the Senior Chief of my division on my soon-to-be submarine. This sailor, knowing my mild personality, advised me to think twice about going to my prospective future command. He told me about Senior Chief Lizotte, a tough man with a tendency for politics. If he liked you, because you played on his softball team, for example, you could do no wrong. If you ever got on his bad side, you were doomed for the rest of the time at that command. You couldn’t outlive the smear campaign he would wage.
But the Lord gave me calmness about my future. The Holy Spirit implanted the idea that this man must be a very honest man. He “called them as he saw them,” a very decisive man. But deep inside a thick, tough exterior was a heart of gold. Now I was excited to meet this man, who was made to look bigger than life. I am not aggressive; he would be very aggressive. I am not so quick-witted; he, a road runner, a Tasmanian Devil. I waffle badly; he would size up any situation with his vast library of experience and make an immediate decision with amazing judgment.
I knew I couldn’t measure up to him, except in one way. The Lord had previously given me a new heart, an eagerness to learn, and an earnest desire to please my supervisors and military commands by good performance. Senior Chief Lizotte would be able to teach me a lot, and he would also recognize the honesty in me.
From the first day onboard, I saw in my Senior Chief what others didn’t see. Yes, he was very demanding; yes, he ran his division with an iron fist. But how refreshing to see his love for his guys, and his fairness to all. No one was so much a favorite to him that he wouldn’t step on their toes when they messed up. He stepped on my toes often, but I deserved it, and felt very comfortable and content knowing I wasn’t singled out. The description of that sailor who warned me at my previous command was only partially true and colored by a misjudgment of my new Senior Chief’s character.
He often had a scowl, and barked his orders. But he also as often had a smile and a grin and was saying something funny (or that he thought was funny.) He didn’t hide anything of what he felt. I deeply respected this man, and came to love him as a great friend, though ever keeping it a working relationship.
He loved to joust, verbally. The one-upmanship, the constant challenging of each other is a military tradition he loved, and he knew how to play that game well. One of his Senior Chief friends was a religious man who had tried to share what he knew of God. When Senior Chief Lizotte figured out I was a Christian, he began plying me with questions about the Bible. Although not a church-goer, he knew some theological ideas, and he began to pit me against his Senior Chief buddy. Of course, his friend, as an evangelical Christian, understood the Bible very differently from me an SDA Christian. So this provided my Senior Chief with a new way to pass the boring hours underway! He would take my answer to a Bible question to his friend, who was not in my chain of command, but was my senior by rank. Senior Chief Lizotte would get a totally different answer from his friend, which he would bring back to me for a rebuttal. This went back and forth for a while, Senior Chief gaining increasing enjoyment out of it because it was a competition to him! I think he saw it as fencing—“Touché! Take this, and take that! Aha! I win, you lose!”
At first I thought Senior Chief Lizotte really wanted to know what the Bible says to us. But then he began countering what I said based on what the other Senior Chief had to say about it. Then I began to see the relish for competition on my Senior’s face, and I realized it was all just a game to him. After some more proxy debating with the other Senior Chief, via our little messenger, Senior Chief Lizotte, I ended it. The last thing I wanted was for the command to view me, a newcomer with no track record, as a religious extremist troublemaker, someone who didn’t take his military duty seriously and was onboard just to have fun, and thus bring dishonor upon God. But I also knew that, beside the game Senior was playing, my honesty and serious sincerity might be seen and remembered for some future purpose God had for him. He was learning truth compared to fable, and the seeds were being planted, even if he didn’t know it. God doesn’t just let misguided honest souls slip by unhelped. It’s His business to save us all.
Finally Senior Chief Lizotte left us and was transferred from our ship to his last shore duty before retiring. I never saw the least change in a desire for spiritual things, but I have faith that world-shattering events are shaping up just over the horizon, and he will be better prepared to make the soon-coming gigantic choice for heaven or for this world. I know the Lord will make the most of my witness to him.
I know why I was sent to that submarine, a highly sought after and difficult submarine class to get orders to. I was greatly surprised and happy when my Command Career Counselor told me a billet to a Trident was open because those billets are rare, since much politicking and behind the scenes work happens within the Trident community of sailors. An outsider, as I was, rarely finds a way into the Trident community. But I wasn’t given that submarine so I could have an easy life there. I was sent there for Senior Chief Lizotte, to learn from him and for him to learn from me. I came away from that ship with a new view on life, and a deeper trust in God and His ability to work for us.
Senior Chief Lizotte reminds me of King Nebuchadnezzar. Demanding, hard-fisted, brutal, fiery-tempered, the ultimate autocrat-dictator, they both were. Yet God called Nebuchadnezzar a head of gold, because “God, who quickeneth the dead, …calleth those things which be not as though they were.” Rom. 4:17. God called him a head of gold, because he had a heart of gold. Nebuchadnezzar was the reason Daniel walked 1500 miles with the rest of enslaved Israel. Nebuchadnezzar was why teenage Daniel witnessed the besiegement of Jerusalem—people limping around looking like string-beans, parents eating their children, and Babylonian soldiers storming the city and slaughtering thousands.
It was to reach Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel was constantly tested and finally approved of by the searching eye of the powerful king. It was for his majesty to learn a better way of life than paganism could ever provide. It was many hard lessons, but Nebuchadnezzar finally learned that we are just creatures, not our own Creator. We may be able to scare men, but our power is looked upon as nothing by God. All the fiery obstreperousness we can muster is nothing compared to His fury. Our little breath of wind, however angry and loud to us, is no match to God’s hurricane-force voice. Nebuchadnezzar learned that his Maker is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
And that was his final testimony. “At the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured Him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me: and my counsellers and my lords sought unto me: and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase.”
posted by David | 2:57 AM
2 Comments:
Wow. Great post.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to read it.
Thank you, Sharon. We have like minds. Take care, sister.
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