Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Tell Everybody Bailey Was a Happy Guy!

My uncle and aunt asked us to "tell everybody he was a happy guy." The best way I think I know to do that is to literally put it out there for EVERYONE to read. Not a day goes by that I do not think about my cousin, Bailey. He indeed was a happy guy... I was honored to give his last words and believe they are appropriate for this medium. Please experience a small portion of Bailey and know the Peace and happiness he had.


Shailia: “Got it. Love ya. Traveling mercies. Godspeed. Remember your home and work training. You are a great son and soldier. And before that you were a true gift from God. When He gave us to one another at your birth you were already a gifted guy. Use all these things, all your days. You are more than prepared for your future. And your future is preparing you for all your tomorrows. I trust you with this wide world God has created and I trust God with you. We are proud of you and for you. Copy?”
 Bailey: “Good copy mom. Love you.”

Shailia said, "Early in life Bailey professed his faith in God. In his own special way he was filled with both great love and earthly imperfections. He displayed a heart after God. His future was just beginning to unfold. Sadly, that future was cut short. The circumstance and random consequence of this world got in the way. Even so, our faith and trust continues. For 25 years Bailey made the world a better place by putting feet to the heart of God. Today we are both fortunate and unfortunate." Fortunate because we were able to stand in the light with this man! Unfortunate because we must journey on without him...



St Paul writes, “Your kindness should be known to all. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally… whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4: 5-9). PFC Bailey Jerome Swaggart held the qualities St Paul encourages us to think on… truth, honor, loveliness, grace, excellence, and being worthy of praise. Listen to what others say of him:
Mark said Bailey is “… amongst the best of men in today’s armed services. Only a man dedicated to his family and country can make it as far as you did...”
Ryan said, “... as you grew up to become a man you became my brother” and Ford, along with many others say Bailey is “one of the good ones.”
Reflecting on his time with Bailey, Josh said, “I remember the first time I met [him]… I think he was a freshman, and had that Mohawk. I told him he had that Taxi Driver look goin on and he gave me that whole (yyeeaah) grin. I knew right then he was one of those cool punk kids that fit right in with my old crowd.”
Kota happily shared that Bailey imparted the wisdom of “who Mr. Mojo Risin was.” “Old soul” tends to describe Baily’s love of music. This inheritance of sound shaped his experience and interaction with the world and us who are in it.  No matter where he was, Bailey was… Bailey. A little punk. A little, ok, maybe a lot, sarcastic. And one of a kind. Can you imagine the jam session he and Jesus are engaged in at this very moment?! I’m sure he’s now met ALL of his favorite artists!
Brent emotionally reflected by saying, “If it were not for Bailey, I would not know who Bill Withers really was…” and “Thank you… for being there when I needed a ride to the hospital. When I needed a [brother] to hear my mom and pop problems. When I decided to QUIT drinking and smoking and you came over almost every day until you left for your service to our country. Thank you… for keeping in touch even though neither of us were in town anymore. Can't wait to see you again bro and laugh at how odd the afterlife is… just like we laughed when we sat on my parent’s front porch time and time again.
Do you see the caliber of this man… when no one saw, he provided grace and comfort, strength and hope, to all of us. Bethany saw this and said he is “one of the best people to have walked the earth” and she “feels sorry for anyone who didn’t get a chance to meet him.”
Blake, one of his infantry brothers, takes rest in knowing “Swag… is watching our six.”



To be honest, I didn't know Bailey as well as many of you do... I’ve not had as much common experience as you had. When he began considering the Army we began to grow close. Because I have some experience in the realm of Army Infantry life he asked as many questions as he could about what to expect, what training would be like, and what deployment and combat were like. Over the course of the next year and more he would call once or twice a month and we’d swap good stories about military adventures and the comradery he was experiencing. Adventures that can be both brutal and exhilarating all at once! We both knew we had entered into a brotherhood that only Sand Hill at Ft Benning, GA can create. “Making your glory” the Greeks called it... the life and death of a warrior, an infantryman.
 The last time I saw Bailey was in December. We stood around a camp fire with family, sharing stories, laughter, and each other’s company. I believe the conversation turned into what one of the male species might call a… how do you say… pissing contest. We all stood around verbally sparring over who caught the biggest fish! Of course, the old men frequently began theirs with, “Let me tell you something boy” to which Bailey and I would roll our eyes and think “what do they know?” "The Boy's" wit and sarcasm, I dare say, out shined the rest of our embellished truths… and I’ve never seen Kenny so proud before. His smile was so wide and his laughter so deep you couldn't even see his eyes! I could tell he was so proud of his son’s journey into manhood. The echoes of that night still play on my heart and I am excited to join with my cousin around a warm fire again… but not yet. Not yet, because I, no, we all have the awesome responsibility to carry him with us for the rest of our days. To tell his story. To say how much he means to us. Model him, as St Paul encouraged us to do. Model how he encouraged, supported, and lifted those around him… not to mention how he laughed, joked, and teased.



His sisters? I've never witnessed fiercer love for a brother! I’ve never failed to notice the spark of admiration in their eyes when they looked toward Bailey… nor how he would shake his head at them during one of their moments of sibling banter over a holiday meal. I've always been a bit jealous of their connection… being an only child I count a few as brothers but I've always known there is something different among these four… Something, tangible. No matter how very different these four are they always know their love is solid and lasting. I dare say if someone ever spoke ill of Bailey they’d have a three sister fire team that could rival any trained infantry unit. Not to mention the fire team leading mom!



And have you seen the photos with him and his nieces and nephew? This guy loved, loved, loved being an uncle. He cherished them all. From the outside looking in, I can see just how important he is to them. The virtues Bailey possessed and his swagger are now carried on in his kin.
I had the fortune to pick Bailey up to secretly escort him home last December. He’d driven all the way from El Paso with a buddy. When I found him sitting in the Waffle house around 0600 he looked like he needed a good long nap! He was so excited to be home. I carried his bag as he climbed the stairs to the front door and knocked… Shalia answered. Her eyes and arms went wide as she said, “Well get in here boy!” She actually had the courage to trust Bailey with the wide world God has given us? Can you believe that? Doesn't she know how adventurous he is? She is also mustering the courage to trust God with him now…
We talked several times a month during his tour and he sent texts or called me once a day for the last five days he spent state side. The call I will not forget happened at about 0330 two nights before his deployment. Deanna and I had been wrestling with a toddler cutting teeth most of that night and at the time of his call I was laying in my bed feeling sorry for myself for being so tired… Like most of us in the Swaggart clan, I am not a happy camper when tired or hungry. Needless to say, his apologies for calling at such an odd time completely changed my mood. I could tell he had been crying a bit. All he could ask me was, “How did you do this?” We talked about my experience of deploying to Macedonia, Kosovo, and Iraq and how every single deployment brings with it a deep pit in the gut. This pit is called uncertainty and immediacy. Those who have taken the uniform, know the risks of wearing it. He knew the joys and hardships of military life and loved it! It’s funny but first responders and military personnel are trained to choose to walk toward the fear… to expect and embrace the immediacy of a terrible moment. Bailey worked hard to become the man he wanted to be and loved his “work” and was proud of his choices. He told me he was “so happy to have finally found his purpose.” And that is why he was and will forever be our hero… We can all clearly see how this man sheltered us with his excellence, honor, and truth. He is worthy of praise and will always be grace to our shattered hearts.
So, let us now bear Bailey on, and give his mortal coil to the earth. Master your hearts, as he did, and walk toward the danger. Like Simon the Cyrene, we unexpectedly help our brother on his Way of the Cross… This way that seems to bring us only despair and suffering… but we know something more! We know there is hope because the tomb is empty! That the Lord has conquered sin and death and will wipe away our tears, mend our hearts, and bring us to His eternal Peace! Please, now, if we are able, let us open our broken hearts to the Lord in prayer…

Let us Pray:
We acknowledge Christ the Lord through whom we hope that our lowly bodies will be made like his in glory, and we say… Lord, you are our life and our resurrection.

Christ, Son of the Living God, who raised up Lazarus, your friend, from the dead, raise up to life and glory, Bailey, whom you have redeemed by your precious blood.

Jesus, consoler of those who mourn, you dried the tears of the family of Lazarus, of the widow’s son, and the daughter of Jairus… comfort us who mourn.

Christ, Savior, destroy the reign of sin in our earthly bodies, so that just as through sin we deserved punishment so through you we may gain eternal life.

Jesus, Redeemer, look on those who have no hope because they do not know you, may they receive faith in the resurrection and in the life of the world to come.

You, O Christ, revealed yourself to the blind man who begged for the light of his eyes… show your face to Bailey, and to us, that we might not be deprived of your light any longer.

When at last our earthly home is dissolved, give us a home, not of earthly making, but built of eternity.

We ask this through Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

Light and Peace be with you always Saint Bailey Jerome Swaggart, rest easy soldier, and pray for us... for we long to see you again. +


-Brandon

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