One might be amazed how light the hearts of those undertaking the most serious tasks are; to wit, I forwarded the following inspirational poster, author unknown, to some friends - including a fellow from college who is in the Army and very likely either in the Middle East or on his way.

I recently sent him a letter of appreciation and blessing in his deployment that almost took me aback, it was so heartfelt. He is - at least on the surface - not quite like that, for he immediately responded to the poster from above.

"It's funny 'cause it's true.

You'll be happy to know that your poster now adorns the ammo door of an M1 Abrams tank deployed to Kosovo. The First Sergeant also put a copy behind his desk and will refer people to it whenever they come to him to complain about anything. I serve in a very enlightened Army."

It serves a man well to recognize the limits of his control upon a given affair; it serves him more to confront this mortality with humble laughter.