A mother went shopping at a large grocery store with her young son in tow. In the foyer area were the typical attractions to make a little extra money; an electric Hobby Horse, a Claw Machine (that never picks up one of the stuffed toys), a couple of video games and a PAY Weight Scale…in addition to the rows of grocery carts (Buggies…if you live down South!) 

While his mother was getting a cart the boy watched a very large man step on the Scale and put in a coin. The man didn’t notice the Out of Order sign taped to the side of the scale. The boy watched the needle rise on the scale and stop at 50 pounds.  He walked over to his mother and pointed at the man.

“Look Mom, a hollow man!”  

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As I look back over my 70 years I can remember numerous hollow people I have encountered. Some were hollow spiritually, some emotionally and some mentally. I remember one such mental case when I was a PFC at a Nike Hercules missile site; my first assignment out of Basic. We were both on every Duty Roster the 1SG could find. One night we were both on guard duty; me at the Fire Control HQ and he at the Launcher Site a quarter of a mile away. He was patrolling between the fences, guarding the missiles with the ‘nuke’ warheads. 

At about 2 a.m. I heard a distant POP, and knew it sounded like a weapon had fired at the Launcher Site. Minutes later the Duty Officer went speeding through the front gate toward the Launcher Site. The next morning the 1SG got us all in formation and told the details and warned us about the 45s we carried on Guard. He said the guy on guard had gotten bored walking the fences and started playing with his 45. He had heard that in close combat you should never press the muzzle against an enemy soldier because compressing the barrel acts as another Safety and the weapon will not fire. So, he decided to try it. He pressed the muzzle against the middle finger of his left hand and…blew his finger off! He was the same guy who, weeks earlier, had been given an Article 15 for trading the spare tire of the Admin Pickup for gas at a station, because he forgot to get the credit card before he headed for Battalion. Definitely… HOLLOW!

Women have accused men of being emotionally hollow, probably since Adam and Eve. Men are notorious for being reluctant to share their feelings the way women would prefer. A friend of mine related when, as a teenager, he watched his dad give his mom a Valentines gift. After a big build-up by his dad, his mom opened the gift – A Bathroom Scale! When his mom left the room, crying, his dad said…WHAT?! She’s been wanting one! All too many of us can identify with that one.

Spiritual hollowness is harder to define, determine or admit…because we all have our own interpretation of what it means to be…spiritual. I can’t intelligently discuss the issue for other religions, but even among Christians there are wide disparities of thought about what it means to be a good Christian. So, I have to use the SOP for Christians…THE BIBLE. In the Old Testament book of Proverbs, Solomon is cautioning against hanging out with evil men. In verse 7 he says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”  In the New Testament, in Romans 10:10, the Apostle Paul said, “For it is with the heart a man believes unto righteousness.” So, spiritualness has less to do with what you think or say or even do…it is all about what you believe…in the very HEART of who you are…your soul. I asked a friend once if he knew that he was going to heaven when he died. He said, “I hope so.” Well, as my dad used to say…”HOPE is not a strategy!” 

Looking at the SOP for Christians, one of the best ways to determine how spiritual you are is to read everything about the life of Jesus and strive to be like Him. A good summary of how he felt about life can be found in Matthew Chapter 5, in the famous SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 

In OCS we were taught to follow the SOP…so, FOLLOW IT!

Max Holt, Class 02-67
Association Chaplain