cover image Finding Faith in the Desert: An Lds Military Chaplain Finds Light and Hope Among the U.S. Soldiers and Iraqi People

Finding Faith in the Desert: An Lds Military Chaplain Finds Light and Hope Among the U.S. Soldiers and Iraqi People

Anthony W. Horton. Spring Creek Book Company, $15.95 (230pp) ISBN 978-1-932898-19-4

Horton, a career military man who served in 2003 as an LDS (Mormon) chaplain to the U.S. Army in Iraq, shares vignettes of courage and sacrifice in this uneven memoir. He opens by explaining the LDS concepts of theodicy and pointing to war as one of the consequences of human selfishness, but then in the same chapter tells of his own deployment to Iraq and of the young men and women he has counseled in 17 years of military service. Many of these stories are genuinely inspirational, but the book's lack of focus and organization is a major problem. Readers never know what is coming next and why, making the book a decent source for a one-off sermon illustration or story, but not a coherent account of Horton's experiences in Iraq. Better editing (starting with the absurdly long subtitle) could have highlighted the best of these stories. Particularly interesting are tales of sacrifice and long family separations, discussions of Mormons in the military (and the prevalent misunderstandings others maintain about LDS beliefs), accounts of healings and answered prayers, and uplifting stories about the people of Iraq. 59 b&w photos.