Latest / King Dems Podcast | Growth Mindset, Leadership, AI and Business Insights / PTSD and Moral Injury Explained for Leaders Who Carry the Cost of Command w/ Dr. Larry Brant
Transcript
- 0:00The Buccaneers score, the cannons go off behind me.
- 0:05I immediately upon hearing those cannons felt like I was back in
- 0:10Afghanistan. Just immediately I grabbed my
- 0:13wife, threw her to the ground, covered her and then realised I
- 0:20was back in the stadium. I look up at my friend brother
- 0:25and he and his girlfriend looked at me like this and so I thought
- 0:30well the only way out of this is with the truth.
- 0:32Before we dive back into today's conversation, I want to share
- 0:34something important. This episode includes a pay
- 0:36partnership with Better Help, a platform designed to make
- 0:38starting therapy easier. I know from my own journey as a
- 0:41leader and entrepreneur that life can sometimes feel
- 0:43overwhelming. There are seasons, severe
- 0:44stress, uncertainty, and pressure build up, and you need
- 0:47a safe space to process it all that superior therapy comes in.
- 0:50Therapy isn't only for people facing technical challenges.
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- 0:58It takes courage to seek help, but it's also one of the
- 1:00smartest investments you can make in your mental and
- 1:03emotional welding. That's why I'm proud to
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- 1:30betterhub.com/kingjames. That's betterhub.com/kingjames
- 1:35to get 10% off your first month of therapy.
- 1:37Once again, this is a paid partnership with Better Help,
- 1:39and I encourage you to take that first step.
- 1:41If you've been thinking about it, sometimes the best
- 1:43investment you can make ease in yourself.
- 1:51Welcome to the King Dems podcast, where we share the
- 1:54stories of extraordinary people and dissect hot, relevant topics
- 1:58that shape our world. From visionary leaders to
- 2:01trailblazing creatives, we uncover the mindset, strategy,
- 2:04and grit behind greatness. Whether it's business, culture,
- 2:07or personal growth, we ask the real questions.
- 2:10This isn't just conversation, it's transformation.
- 2:13The Kingdom's podcast, Your Next Breakthrough, starts here.
- 2:17Music licencing reimagined. We are live ladies and
- 2:24gentlemen, we once again welcome to the King James podcast and
- 2:27today I've got with me a cheapo VIP watching out of California,
- 2:34United States of America make welcome Laurie brand.
- 2:41How are you, Doctor Larry? I am doing well because I hope
- 2:46everyone out there is doing well and how are you doing my friend?
- 2:50Doing amazing, amazing, super fantastic.
- 2:54Wow. So it's time to give you a
- 2:57proper introduction, give you your flowers.
- 3:00Wow. So Doctor Larry Brand, thank you
- 3:03for staying. Yes to this moment.
- 3:05You are not just a meeting chaplain.
- 3:08You are not just a veteran. You are not just a minister.
- 3:11You're someone who has been chosen to stand in the space.
- 3:15We have broken Nets meets MENA 16 years, 7 as a Navy chaplain,
- 3:2125 years of password leadership, 4th certified in chaplain.
- 3:24Seen a trusting force on PTSD and viral injury.
- 3:29A guide for people who feel disconnected from life, from
- 3:32identity and from both. Your work centres on restoring
- 3:36people to a life with the buildings is still worth
- 3:38leaving. That is sacred work, that is
- 3:41leadership and that is legacy. Doctor Larry Grant, welcome to
- 3:46the Kingdom's podcast. Thank you very much.
- 3:49It's an honour to be, yeah. You're welcome, Sir, before the
- 3:53titles and of course, the credentials.
- 3:55Were you before the uniform and before the pulpit?
- 3:59I was just a kid from Southern Illinois in America, you know,
- 4:03grew up in Southern Illinois, much like everybody, you know,
- 4:07just living life, going to school and just enjoying life.
- 4:14And that's, that's kind of who I was raised by my mom and my dad.
- 4:18My dad was a World War 2 veteran.
- 4:19And that's, that's just me. And then God kind of got a hold
- 4:23of me and and brought me on this journey that we are at today.
- 4:28So I have a moment in your life. Did you realise that you were
- 4:32actually called self people in the darkest moment?
- 4:36I think when when I was in high school, my church had youth
- 4:40missions, ministry opportunities where we would go to different
- 4:44places and serve people and seek to spread the love of Christ.
- 4:49And I think it was, it was during those missions,
- 4:52opportunities that God called me to serve others.
- 4:57Wow to end the missions. But was it like a particular
- 5:02experience? A humble man in that point of
- 5:06time that made you realise this is what my life work is better
- 5:10being. Yeah, actually I remember 1
- 5:14particular mission trip that we went on.
- 5:17We went to an Indian Reservation in South Dakota and LED vacation
- 5:22Bible school for a mission church on the reservation.
- 5:27And just the interaction with the Native Americans and how
- 5:32much they appreciated what we did, that we were coming there
- 5:37to, to not only serve them, but also to serve their children.
- 5:40And just the the gratefulness that they had for that made a
- 5:44deep impression on me. And I think that's a big thing
- 5:47that God used to call me into his service.
- 5:52Now many people whenever they hear the term PTSD, they don't
- 5:59really understand it. But in simple language like how
- 6:02do you explain PTSD to someone that is listening to us right
- 6:06now? I would say that PTSD comes from
- 6:09a traumatic event that happens to you.
- 6:14Your life may be in danger or you just may be verbally abused
- 6:19over and over and over and over and it just breaks you down
- 6:24emotionally, sometimes physically it breaks you down
- 6:27and you have trouble relating. You have high, you know, you go
- 6:31into high anxiety and you're, you go into where you're, you're
- 6:37constantly, you're in fear, maybe fear for your life, fear
- 6:40for something that's going to happen to you.
- 6:43It could be emotions like that. As someone who who has PTSD from
- 6:49my combat experiences as a Navy chaplain, for me, it's a loss of
- 6:54safety after my combat experience and what happened to
- 6:57me there. When I came back home, there was
- 7:00no place that I felt safe. And so when I when I go to a
- 7:05restaurant, I have to sit with my back to the wall, monitor all
- 7:09of the exits. If I have my back to anyone, I'm
- 7:12very nervous because in the situation I was in in combat,
- 7:16you never knew who was your friend and who was your enemy
- 7:18because the enemy didn't wear a uniform.
- 7:20And you know, for instance, if I'm, I'm doing better than I
- 7:25used to because I decided, I decided to go get help and.
- 7:30But. If I'm yes, I I see a counsellor
- 7:33about every every three weeks. I see a counsellor because the
- 7:39mental health health folks are just overwhelmed and so you just
- 7:44aren't able to get a, an appointment every every week.
- 7:48So I see her about every three weeks and, and talking about how
- 7:53I feel about things really helps for myself.
- 7:55If I'm jogging on a trail and someone suddenly comes up behind
- 7:59me that startles me and I have to step off the trail, kind of
- 8:02regroup and then get back on. That's just a a few of the
- 8:05things as far as PTSD is to me. You know, PTSD is actually very,
- 8:10very real being. You know, I think this is one of
- 8:13the reasons why I'm really grateful for the kind of work
- 8:15that I do and the kind of partners, the kind of brands
- 8:18that I've partnered with me. So I'll very fast paid partner
- 8:23on this. Broadcasters get to help.
- 8:25So Better Help is the world's leading online therapy brand and
- 8:31I love the way they make mental health help accessible via
- 8:36mobiles, via devices, right? And a lot of people do not see
- 8:42the importance of working on their mental health.
- 8:45So a lot of people go to the team to work on their physical
- 8:48health. Or how about your mental health,
- 8:50which is actually even more important.
- 8:52So I'd like for you to emphasise or to shed more light on the
- 8:58importance of people generally listening to us taking the
- 9:03initiative to work on the mental health, you know, especially
- 9:08with the likes of better health that is easily accessible.
- 9:12Yeah, absolutely. For myself, there was years of
- 9:16denial that I had PTSD and then when I became a hospital
- 9:22chaplain for the Navy, I then I started to realise that I had
- 9:27it. But I really struggled with
- 9:31going to my colleagues for help, somebody that I was supposed to
- 9:35be their chaplain and, but yet I wanted, I, I needed help too.
- 9:41And but finally, I just decided, you know what, just as you said,
- 9:46just like going to the gym and doing what you need to do for
- 9:51your body, I finally decided that I need to go and do what I
- 9:56needed to do for my mind. Because some of the things, you
- 10:01know, with that, you know, with that loss of safety comes that
- 10:04hyper vigilance. And that's just exhausting, you
- 10:10know, constantly being on guard, it's just exhausting.
- 10:15I think I lead to hyperventilation.
- 10:18Let's talk about moral injury. That is actually less talked
- 10:22about, but it's a very, very damaging like, what is moral
- 10:27injury? And like, why is it often more
- 10:30painful than trauma itself? So Moral injury, as we talked
- 10:34about PTSD is a traumatic event that happens to you.
- 10:38Moral injury is kind of the other side of the coin.
- 10:42Moral injury is when you do something, or maybe you're
- 10:47ordered to do something by someone in authority over you.
- 10:51Or maybe you fail to present, fail to, and the end result of
- 10:56what happens just goes against everything that you believe in
- 11:00morally, ethically, emotionally, especially spiritually, and that
- 11:06that just absolutely breaks you down.
- 11:08It weighs you down with guilt and with shame.
- 11:12And the individual with moral injury many times goes on to
- 11:16believe that they are just unlovable and unforgivable
- 11:22because of what they have done. Some even believe that they have
- 11:27become infected with evil because of the actions that they
- 11:31took that they feel like are just unforgivable.
- 11:33And in many cases, they will just step back from everything
- 11:38in their life. They will step back from their
- 11:41faith. They will step back from their
- 11:43family. They will step back from their
- 11:45friends, not because those people irritate them, but
- 11:51because of the actions they have taken that broke them in the
- 11:57first place. They are afraid that they will
- 12:00infect those people with their vadnais, with their evil.
- 12:04And so they step back and isolate themselves, quite often
- 12:09self medicating, and in some cases that self medication even
- 12:13goes to the point of suicide because they just feel like
- 12:18they're unfixable and they feel like it's better for everyone
- 12:22else if they just take themselves out of the picture
- 12:24permanently. So what are the key differences
- 12:28between PTSD and moral injury that most people don't
- 12:32understand? The key difference obviously is,
- 12:35you know, PTSD is something that happens to you.
- 12:38Moral injury is something that you do.
- 12:40But in addition to that is the guilt and the shame that, that
- 12:46hammering of themselves of the guilt and the shame and that
- 12:51feeling that I can't ever be a good person again because of
- 12:57what I've done. You know, God can forgive you,
- 12:59but because of what I've done, I'm unforgivable.
- 13:02I, I am not lovable Forgiveness, God's forgiveness is for
- 13:05everybody but me because of what I've done.
- 13:09They just, then they, they also quite often in many people with
- 13:15moral injury, PTSD is there as well.
- 13:18And so with that, they may have had a traumatic event where
- 13:23something happens to them, but then in reaction to that
- 13:28traumatic event, they then do something that goes completely
- 13:34against everything that they believe in and they they
- 13:40emotionally break themselves is what happens.
- 13:44So if you could imagine the, you know, and this is just one
- 13:48example, if you can imagine a soldier in Iraq or someone's
- 13:52just pinging the tar out of me, if you can just imagine a
- 13:55soldier in Iraq and he has a bomb that goes off near him,
- 13:59that's a traumatic event. Then he sees someone with a
- 14:04suicide vest, while his reaction is going to have to be I can't
- 14:10let that person get close enough to me to detonate, to hurt
- 14:13myself, to hurt other people. So then he shoots and kills that
- 14:18individual, finding out later that it was actually a pregnant
- 14:23woman with a suicide vest. So now he's dealing with the
- 14:27thought of taking another life, even though he had a choice
- 14:33between bad and worse. And then he's also grappling
- 14:36with the idea that he also killed that unborn life.
- 14:40And he feels like at that point, he feels like I'm just a
- 14:44terrible, horrible person because of what I've done, even
- 14:48though his choices were between bad and worse.
- 14:52Or you look at someone, say a medical provider at the height
- 14:56of COVID. And you know, we, we all saw
- 14:59those articles where there wasn't enough ventilators to go
- 15:03around during the height of COVID.
- 15:06And So what about that medical provider where he has to make
- 15:10that decision? This person gets to go on the
- 15:12ventilator. This person has to die because
- 15:16we just simply don't have enough ventilators to go around.
- 15:19And then they step back and I went into medicine to help
- 15:24people. I didn't go into medicine to
- 15:26decide who lives and who dies. And then they, they second guess
- 15:33everything they do from that point forward or the first
- 15:37responder who answers a call for an emergency.
- 15:42And then afterward, if the person you know, if, if there's
- 15:46an unsuccessful resolution to that issue, then they start
- 15:51second guessing themselves saying, well, here I trained to
- 15:54be a first responder, but I'm not good.
- 15:57I'm a I'm not a good person doing this.
- 16:01Do I really help people and they just start second guessing
- 16:04themselves and thinking that they're not only a bad first
- 16:07responder, but maybe a bad person to begin with as well.
- 16:11And so doing that, it can even go into the world of we have
- 16:15people who have PTSD from from sexual assault.
- 16:20But what happens to that individual if after the sexual
- 16:24assault, they have the PTSD from the sexual assault, But then
- 16:28they begin to believe and sometimes this is what the
- 16:31perpetrator says to them. You know, if you were in a
- 16:35certain way, I wouldn't have had to do this to you or you realise
- 16:39that that what I did to you was all your fault, even though we
- 16:42know that is not the case. But sometimes, and for some
- 16:47people, they get into believe that the assault was their fault
- 16:51and that they did bring it on themselves.
- 16:54And then they start thinking of themselves less and less of a
- 16:58person and they go deeper and deeper into their shell because
- 17:03they're afraid if they come out, they could get attacked again.
- 17:08But they also may be afraid that if they come out of their shell
- 17:13that they're going to be encouraging others to behave in
- 17:16a way that somehow they get attacked.
- 17:19I know that that may seem crazy, but I have come across
- 17:22individuals like that and it's hard to see somebody who thinks
- 17:28so little of themself because of an action that has happened to
- 17:32them and then maybe a reaction that they had in response.
- 17:37And, you know, one really big tiring thing about a lot of
- 17:43people in this bracket is their unwillingness to speak up to at
- 17:48least talk about it, right? Because I say a problem shared
- 17:54is a problem. How so?
- 17:56I have had the privilege of encountering, you know, a good
- 18:00number of individuals like this, but they are typically unwilling
- 18:06to speak up. And also, I think society has a
- 18:10way of shaming people or stigmatising people, right, that
- 18:14have gone through unfortunate incidences in life.
- 18:18But people just need to find a way to learn how to speak up.
- 18:22So what? What's your word to people who
- 18:25are suffering in silence today? My word is find someone.
- 18:31Actually I would say find two people.
- 18:34One go to God. Go, go to God in your hurt and
- 18:38your pain. He will listen to you first,
- 18:41Peter 57 says. Cast your cares upon me, for I
- 18:45care for you. God is literally begging for you
- 18:50to to just drop all of your hurt and pain at his doorstep.
- 18:54Secondly, what I would encourage you to do is to find a safe
- 19:02place that may be an online community, maybe an online
- 19:07veterans group and online first responders group and online
- 19:11sexual trauma group or, or something that's in your
- 19:16community and find a safe place where you can begin to Share
- 19:20your story. We do here at 29 Palms.
- 19:24We have a PTSD and moral injury group that we have here on base
- 19:29that I started about four years ago.
- 19:32And in that group, we'll, we'll take them through a course of
- 19:36about of eight weeks. This was originally a course
- 19:40designed by the Veterans Administration by a clinical
- 19:44psychiatrist and a VA chaplain. And then with their permission,
- 19:48I took it and tweaked it a little bit for active duty.
- 19:51And then we do it here on base. I lead it with a mental health
- 19:54professional. And we'll have a small group of
- 19:57about four to six people and we will meet for 8 weeks.
- 20:00And it's interesting how guarded everyone is the first week that
- 20:05we come together. And then we'll have we'll have
- 20:09someone share their story. And then it's like once one
- 20:14person is willing to share their story in the group, the
- 20:18floodgates just open. And then everyone is is sharing
- 20:23their story. And the coolest thing happens is
- 20:27that they begin to realise I'm not alone in this struggle.
- 20:32I'm not alone in this fight. There are other people just like
- 20:37me and they don't judge me when I share with them.
- 20:42And that's what I mean by finding a safe place to be able
- 20:45to Share your story. And that sharing of that story,
- 20:49just as you said, you know, a problem shared is halved.
- 20:53And then it that pain doesn't become something that they
- 20:57continue to bear alone, that that hurt, that pain, that story
- 21:02is actually lifted and shared by the group and the bond.
- 21:08That you bring it up, the power of the group, I really
- 21:11appreciate it. Yeah, the the power of the group
- 21:15is huge. And what we have seen is that
- 21:17not only does the group become important, they start to stay
- 21:21connected to each other even outside of our group time.
- 21:26And then if something happens during the course of their week,
- 21:30they will reach out to the members of the group for support
- 21:34and encouragement. And even after the 8 weeks are
- 21:38over, what we have seen is that the groups tend to stay together
- 21:42and also will continue to support and encourage and lift
- 21:48each other up, just adding to the recur to their recovery and
- 21:53restoration from PTSD and moral injury.
- 21:57Absolutely amazing. Just to touching that Better
- 22:00Help also has groups or the Better Help app.
- 22:06And one more thing, John. The example of what I'm talking.
- 22:09Yeah, they have John Alene as well.
- 22:11So I'd like for you to talk about John Alene.
- 22:13Like how does John Alene help the process of recovery?
- 22:18Well, for us, we kind of do a version of journaling.
- 22:22And when I'm working with an individual with PTSD and moral
- 22:26injury or whether I'm working with someone with a group, we do
- 22:29a version of journaling called the two way Prayer log.
- 22:32And So what we do is we ask the individual actually when we're
- 22:36in the group, we don't ask. We tell if it's a homework
- 22:39assignment, but we'll say OK, every morning, every evening,
- 22:45whichever works for you, sit down and and write out a prayer.
- 22:51Write out a write out a prayer about the day's events.
- 22:55Write out a prayer about how you're feeling, what's going on
- 22:58with you, what has happened in the day, where, where you think
- 23:02your future's going, whatever you want to write about, write
- 23:06out that prayer. And that's Part 1.
- 23:10Part 2 is that after you have written out the prayer, then
- 23:17step back and answer the prayer from what you think God's
- 23:23perspective would be. How do you think God would
- 23:27answer that prayer? And then write that in your
- 23:31journal as well. And what that does is that helps
- 23:35the person to take a step back and look at their look at what's
- 23:40going on with them from a different perspective of their
- 23:43own. And so they begin to see things
- 23:47from that other perspective. And you know how sometimes a
- 23:51person with PTSD and moral injury, either one, this can
- 23:55happen, the person can begin to get tunnel vision, you know,
- 23:59where they can only see about this much.
- 24:02Kind of like me, when I lost safety, I had the tunnel vision
- 24:06of never feeling safe. And it's sometimes still do, but
- 24:10by doing that two way prayer log, similar to the journaling
- 24:14that your organisation encourages people to do, the
- 24:17putting it on the page or typing it into the screen, that helps
- 24:22put their thoughts into organised words rather than
- 24:26sometimes those juggled up feelings and emotions.
- 24:30And then when you take that further step back and you answer
- 24:34it, or you, you seek to answer it from what you think God's
- 24:38perspective would be, you're looking at it outside of
- 24:42yourself. And sometimes that can give you
- 24:45a better perspective of what you're facing.
- 24:48Because when we get that tunnel vision, we get that anxiety and
- 24:53then we can't seem to get out of that spiral.
- 24:58But when you step back for that second part of that prayer log
- 25:01and answer things from God's perspective, that forces you to
- 25:06to stop that spiral and to look at things from a bigger godly
- 25:12perspective. Interesting, so how do you say
- 25:16trauma reshapes a person's identity, not just their
- 25:20emotions? Oh yeah, trauma can drastically
- 25:25reshape someone's identity. Think about the sexual assault
- 25:30victim. Trauma can reshape their
- 25:33identity into to where they always, they always think of
- 25:37themselves as a victim and a target from that point forward.
- 25:42For me, the trauma of the firefights I was in that and
- 25:47that lack of feeling safe, that trauma reshaped my identity as
- 25:52someone who I felt always targeted, always.
- 25:57I began to believe that someone was always out to get me because
- 26:00of that experience of being targeted in country, because one
- 26:03thing that happened to me was I was with my Marines and we had
- 26:10the Marines had found a cache of weapons and some documents.
- 26:14And as the translator was going through the documents, all of a
- 26:20sudden the translator turns to me and says, chaps, you're in
- 26:23here. And I said, what do you mean?
- 26:25And, and the translator said, well, in these documents, one of
- 26:30the things that they're saying is that if you kill the Marines
- 26:34religious leader, you'll break their spirit.
- 26:39And so I was like, wow. So they're going at, you know,
- 26:42they're intentionally going after chaplains and their
- 26:45assistants. And he goes, no, it's more than
- 26:48that. They have your physical
- 26:50description in this document. So in that document saying kill
- 26:55this person was my description and my assistant's description
- 27:01saying if you kill these two people, the religious leader and
- 27:06his helper, then you will break the spirit of the Marines in
- 27:11this area. Now, actually, truly, if they
- 27:14had done that, what they would have done was just make the
- 27:17Marines meaner. I mean, that's the truth.
- 27:24You, you kill, you kill a Marines chap, they're going to
- 27:27go. They're going to go for blood
- 27:28even harder. But that experience of, of
- 27:33having my physical description and the words kill this guy took
- 27:38away my safety and from that trauma reshaped my identity into
- 27:45someone. I felt like I always had a
- 27:49target on my back from that point.
- 27:51Forward and I never. Especially it was, yeah, it was
- 27:57a few years before I could even go to a large event.
- 28:00You know, it was a it was a few years before I could go to a
- 28:03baseball or football game. And then one example, I'll just
- 28:07tell you this, boy, I'm really exposing myself here.
- 28:12That that was in 2011. In 2015.
- 28:19Now where was it? No, it was fall of 2014.
- 28:22I was in Tampa, FL and the the Coast Guard uses Navy chaplains,
- 28:29just the US Coast Guard uses Navy chaplains.
- 28:32So we bounce back and forth between the Navy, the Marines,
- 28:34and the Coast Guard and with whatever service we're with,
- 28:38that's the uniform we wear. So I've got a closet full of
- 28:41uniforms. I got Navy uniforms, Marine
- 28:43Corps uniforms, Coast Guard. When we move, the movers go.
- 28:48You have more clothes than your wife, but I still don't think
- 28:53that's possible. One of my best friends in the
- 28:56Navy, his brother at that time was working for the football
- 28:59team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And so we were, he had gotten us
- 29:04a couple free tickets for a preseason game.
- 29:06And so the stadium is beautiful. And if you've ever been there at
- 29:12one end of the stadium, because they're the Buccaneers, at one
- 29:16end of the stadium is a life-size pirate ship.
- 29:20But what I didn't know was on the ship they have working
- 29:24cannons, and when the bucks score, they fire the cannons.
- 29:31And so my seats or my wife and my seats were right in front of
- 29:37the pirate ship. And so my friend's brother and
- 29:42his girlfriend come over. They're talking to us.
- 29:46So I'm not paying attention to the game.
- 29:49They're talking to us, and all of a sudden the Buccaneers
- 29:53score, the cannons go off behind me.
- 29:58I, immediately upon hearing those cannons, felt like I was
- 30:03back in Afghanistan. Just immediately I grabbed my
- 30:08wife, threw her to the ground, covered her and then realised I
- 30:15was back in the stadium. I look up at my friend brother
- 30:20and he and his girlfriend were looking at me like this.
- 30:25And so I thought, well, the only way out of this is with the
- 30:28truth. I just said, man, I'm just so
- 30:29sorry. When I heard those cannons, I
- 30:32flashed, and I reacted without even thinking, you know, And my
- 30:37wife saw the floor of the state in between the seats, you know,
- 30:41saying get me up, get me up. And bless her heart, she's still
- 30:45with me to this day. But that's just one example of
- 30:50how trauma can reshape you. You know, you've actually spoken
- 30:54about addressing mental health issues even in the church, in
- 31:01society at large, right? So what does the church and the
- 31:05society generally need to wake up to when it comes to mental
- 31:10health, When it comes to PTSD, When it comes to moral injury?
- 31:15I think the church, the church needs to educate itself.
- 31:18As I've, as I've travelled this country, even as I've travelled
- 31:22the world on deployments, I've talked to a lot of pastors in a
- 31:26lot of different places. What I have seen is if you ask a
- 31:30pastor what's PTSD, more often than not, they can give you a
- 31:35pretty good description of what that is because they, they have
- 31:38recognised that they've, they've educated themselves, they've
- 31:42started working with church members who have that.
- 31:45But then when you ask a pastor or a ministry leader, hey, can
- 31:49you tell me what moral injury is?
- 31:51Usually they will just go, They'll either give you a look
- 31:54like a deer in headlights, or they will just look at you and
- 31:58say, you know, I have absolutely no idea.
- 32:00But then when you say what moral injury is, it's when a person
- 32:04transgresses and does something against everything that they
- 32:08believe in and it is broken. Then then usually that that
- 32:13pastor will step back and go, I know exactly who that's
- 32:18describing. And then they can tell you that
- 32:21there's a per, you know, probably 1-2, maybe even more
- 32:24individuals within their congregation that that
- 32:27completely describes. And there go, I've been looking
- 32:31at them all wrong. And I think that's what happens
- 32:35in the churches. We have these people in our
- 32:38pews, or maybe they've disappeared from the pews and
- 32:41their families are there and we mistake their pain and their
- 32:44hurt for something else. We may mistake it for
- 32:48backsliding. We may mistake it for burnout.
- 32:51We may mistake it for who knows? But then then another thing that
- 32:59happens is the person who, who comes forward, you know, in our
- 33:03tradition, at the end of the service, we'll have a time where
- 33:07people can respond to the message and, and if God is
- 33:10speaking to them, what can you know, how, how does God want
- 33:14them to respond? And sometimes they will come
- 33:17forward. And because the pastor is not
- 33:20educated on what moral injury is, the pastor might give them a
- 33:25brief scripture, pray with them briefly, pat them on the back
- 33:28and kind of say you're good to go and they're not good to go.
- 33:32What that person needs is a godly, safe place, someone who
- 33:36can sit with them in their pain and then help them begin to
- 33:41visualise that there is a path to restoration.
- 33:45And that's with what I'm doing right now.
- 33:49That's the message I'm trying to get out to these ministry
- 33:52leaders and these churches is that we need to to not offer
- 33:56quick fixes, but we need to sit with folks in their pain and
- 34:00show them that that path to restoration to where if they
- 34:04think they're broken by these things, there's a path that they
- 34:08can come back from. Speaking of a path to
- 34:11restoration, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 12 says for the perfecting
- 34:15of the Saints, for the work of the ministry and for the
- 34:19edifying of the body of Christ. That is what the church is
- 34:22actually for. So for me to you again, it's a
- 34:26very, very big thank you. We've already beat our type
- 34:31limit. I will take you through the
- 34:33Pacific Ring of Fire. The five person big fire round
- 34:37questions. Are you ready to rumble?
- 34:41Hey. Let's go quick.
- 34:43Answers only #1 What is one word that describes hope?
- 34:48Jesus. Oh nice, fantastic #2 what is
- 34:51one book that has changed how you see healing?
- 34:55Achilles in Vietnam. Interesting.
- 34:59So what is 1 habit that protects your own mental health?
- 35:03Spending time with my wife. Interesting.
- 35:07God bless her. What is something people
- 35:09misunderstand about chaplains? Something that they
- 35:13misunderstand about chaplains. Yes.
- 35:17Is that what you said? Exactly.
- 35:21They think that we cost. They think that we constantly
- 35:24compromise our faith, which we don't.
- 35:28OK, out of press 55, the last one, give me 3 words that
- 35:32describe your life's Misha, your legacy. 3 words.
- 35:37Hope, resilience and restoration.
- 35:41Amazing. So that's something I always see
- 35:44on the forecast whenever a person shares the time with you
- 35:48this year, they're likely to be the course.
- 35:49The SI you do for measuring life is time.
- 35:52So Doctor Larry, thank you very much for the work that you do in
- 35:56silence and in the presence of people.
- 36:01And of course, in truth, I always say this, that an
- 36:05attitude of gratitude is good attitude.
- 36:08So thank you for standing with the wounded, with the hurts,
- 36:12with the sick. And of course, thank you for
- 36:14restoring dignity via the world has forgotten it.
- 36:19So for the listeners who want to learn more about lives, work and
- 36:23resources, you can actually visit
- 36:26ithinkrestoringthebrooklyn.com. Is that correct?
- 36:30Restoringthebroken.com actually it and massive respect.
- 36:34Restoringthebroken.com was taken, so it's Restoring the
- 36:38Dash broken.com or you can look me up on Amazon.
- 36:44My book is coming out very soon and it's called Restoring the
- 36:47Broken, but you could type that into Amazon as well and you will
- 36:51see that come up and it will be available on Kindle paperback
- 36:54and hardback. Are amazing, so we will have
- 36:57that in the description section. So before you leave, you want to
- 37:00give a shout out to anyone before you.
- 37:04Who are you giving a shout out to?
- 37:06Just shout out to my excuse me, my lovely bride Tammy, to my
- 37:10kids, and especially to my Marine sailors and Coast
- 37:16Guardsmen that I've had the privilege to know over the last
- 37:1916 years. God bless you.
- 37:22Amazing. God bless Doctor Larry, God
- 37:24bless the Kingdom's podcast, God bless the listeners.
- 37:27Guys, if you are listening to me, do not forget.
- 37:31Always go for something in your lives, conceive, believe, strive
- 37:34to thrive and achieve. For me, it's goodbye.
- 37:37And of course, from Doctor Larry Brad, it is goodbye.
- 37:42All right. Thank you.