L I B R A R Y

The Warriors were packed inside a small plane awaiting flight.  They were to make their first parachute jump as promised to them by the General.  They had behaved in their demeanor and had excelled in their training.  The General was proud of them.  They were growing into real men, becoming real soldiers, and he was their leader.  He was the leader.  And in his heart they were as unto his sons.
 
He recalled the tales of the Young Stripling Warriors led by General Helaman, about 64 B.C.  and how Helaman considered his warriors as sons.  The present day General thought about his God.    {If I ever need you, I need you now,} he prayed in his thoughts.  {How can I ensure their safety?  How can I ensure we survive?  When we go to war, how can I bring them back alive; all of them?}
 
He thought about home and the responsibilities he had in school, {I am the Safety Grade Six Alpha One.   I can ensure everyone’s safety through the transferring of my safety skills.}  He thought about his community and the responsibilities he had there, {I am a Street Regulator.  I can ensure we obey the laws, rules, and regulations of combat.}  He pondered about
the Geneva Convention and a soldier’s respective responsibility within, and then reflected upon the Code of Conduct.
 
And he knew, as he had always known that if they obeyed the laws of nature they would engulf the blessings of nature.  Then a peculiar thought entered his mind.  {By law of nature only one thing falls out of the sky; bird shit.}  That concept had to be changed in him and by him to suit military moral.  {From now on only two things fall out of the sky; bird shit and warriors.  And we’re no bird shit!}
 
He logically reflected upon philosophical theories of cause and effect and reminisced upon theosophy.  He would not think upon theology or he would make himself believe he is God. He made an assessment of the then and now, and knew he had to focus on the now, {I am the General.} 
 
He thought about his gifts, his talents, and his power.  He had been consecrated to be a High Priest at a young age by the Los Angeles Temple workers; an act that started out as a joke, but he was no joke and the Temple President ensured it so.  He had been given the keys to seal and bind that which is on earth to be bound into heaven.  He had the Priesthood, the very power of God delegated to man to bring to pass the Gospel Ordinances, but he knew more concerning the Priesthood.  It was the power to create worlds; the very power to control the elements of nature.  He knew that he could bring his men back to life if the need should arise.  Whether by scientific knowledge or through the practice of theological concepts, or a combination of both sciences, he knew through the contemplation of such sciences, that no one need die just to prove the power of the Priesthood.  {No one dies on me, neither by nature nor by choice,} he thought within his mind.  {We will live through this; we will survive.}
 
He thought about Tommy who was only five.  And the General questioned, {what is a five year old doing in the Army?   What am I doing in the Army?   No.  I better not doubt.  I must remain positive.  This is not a game.  I am not an inept Temple Worker looking to pass the time away.}  He realized that he himself was only eleven years old going on twelve.  The others were as young as he was.  He was the oldest of them all; twelve.
 
{What will the world see this day; children falling out of the sky?}