SMEAC

My wife and I attended a Marine Corps Ball this last weekend. The guest of honor was a retired Major General and during his address he said, "I know all of you remember S.M.E.A.C., right?" Somewhere in the back of my head I said, "Yes Sir!"

I can still hear us yelling ourselves hoarse at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, 23 years ago:

"Sir, SMEAC, aye, aye, Sir!

Situation!

Mission!

Execution!

Administration and Logistics!

Command and Signal, Sir!"

Every former Marine in that room who was in 10 years ago, 25 years ago or even 50 years ago remembers SMEAC. Which brings me to my point. Some things you just learn, though you may not understand them at the time, in a repetitious manner. And then, it's stuck in your head forever waiting for the right moment, the right emergency to come out.

Catechisms function in a similar way for our kids. Whether Westminster Shorter or Heidelberg, when we teach them to our kids they get stuck way back in their heads waiting for the right moment, the right emergency to come out. Like when they have a crisis of faith in college or the day they start to catechize their own kids.

Comments

[Theisens]

I would agree in theory, but I don't see life that is that cut and dry. In my experience, the Catechisms have been much like a recipe for a great meal, that aren't used to actually make the meal at all. It seems rather absurd to gather a bunch of people around the table and say, "I have this great recipe, come on over." And you get people together, and plop down the recipe in the middle of the table while the guests just stare at it and try to understand it. But the point of the recipe is to make the meal, and enjoy it with others. But I'm willing to admit that this has perhaps been my own experience with the catechisms and no one elses. But, on the other side of the coin, during my own personal "crisis of faith", it wasn't the catechisms I turned to. It was the community of my brothers and sisters; and as a father, I would rather my kids be able to understand how to cook the recipe than be able to dictate the ingredients.

[Doug Roorda]

Possibly (not knowing your situation) some of the difference is similar to teaching SMEAC to a Marine and to some guy off the street. It organizes the Marine's thoughts around who he is in a way it can't for someone who just learns the code and the definitions.

Garrett, please 'splain SMEAC a little more.

Big Cat

[Garrett]

Russ,

Remember SMEAC, like the catechism, is supposed to be taught and developed in a community. It isn't something learned in arid isolation. It is also fleshed out. The problem is, young Marines, like children, don't seem to care or "get it" at the time but that's not the end of the story. SMEAC, like the cat. gives one some pegs to orient around. I most certainly have had such experiences. Though I was never catechized as a child, I did often attend chapel on a military base and the service was normally "high church" so I learned all the ordinaries. Things like the Doxology, the Gloria Patri, and Lord's Prayer all came flooding back to me in time of need.

BTW, Doug, SMEAC is a 5 paragraph order that helps one to take command on the battlefield and execute the mission.

[Theisens]

Again, I agree in theory, but what I find is that most often the cat is taught in isolation; or when taught, it's taught just as a knowledgeable memorization tool rather than something to help practice faith. It's one of the reasons many of the churches in the Reformed tradition are prideful about their knowledge. In my experience with Reformed churches, it's more about knowing, and less about doing.

I was catechized as a child, and aside from being more knowledgeable about the Reformed tradition, I didn't find it all that equipping to my life as a whole. But like I said, this could be a result how I was taught, and for what purpose I was taught.