Open up and let God into our lives

I just can’t do it in my own. We vain humans have such difficulty admitting that.

Recently, a heartbreaking funeral service for a Nova Scotia soldier brought that point to the fore. Warrant Officer Michael Robert McNeil was 39 when he died of an apparent suicide at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa in Ontario in November. He was one of four Canadian soldiers who died in the same way in less than two weeks.

The deaths led to a string of probing questions about what the Canadian government and its military is doing to care for battle-weary soldiers who return home with mental issues that can include post-traumatic stress disorder. All four soldiers had served in Afghanistan. McNeil, a 19-year military veteran, had served two tours in Afghanistan, along with tours in Kosovo and Bosnia.