Higher call to duty
Lawrence County native finds ‘rewarding’ work as Army chaplain in Iraq
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Courtesy photo The Rev. Daniel Sparks recently returned from Iraq where he served as a chaplain. The pace was hectic, he said. Sparks said the danger became real to him quickly. But confirmation that God had put him there for a reason came as he stood with buddies of a dead soldier, trying to give comfort. |
Hitting the dirt of Baghdad after hearing the whiz of an incoming rocket, the Rev. Daniel Sparks might have wondered why in the world he was in Iraq — had there been time to think, that is.
An explosion shattered a 6-foot concrete fence pillar and sent gravel flying. Shrapnel wounded a soldier in his arm, Sparks said.
If things had been different, Sparks might have been in his native Alabama, serving as rector of a church. Or he might have been delving into politics, putting his university degree to use.
Instead, he was serving as an Army chaplain — his “calling,” he said.
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