Deployed chaplain finds strength in exercise

Photo By Capt. Amber Kelly-Herard | Chaplain (Capt.) Shawn Bishop, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing chaplain, found relief from his deployment and job in a strength and conditioning program offered at the Housing 6 Gym at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, by the 332nd Expeditionary Force Support Squadron. Chaplain Bishop is deployed from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and is a native of Stow, Ohio.  

SALAH AD DIN, IRAQ

07.07.2011

Story by Senior Airman Amber Kelly-Herard 

332d Air Expeditionary Wing

SALAH AH DIN, Iraq - About halfway through his deployment at Joint Base Balad, a 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing chaplain found himself in need of a more aggressive workout to provide him stamina and strength for the long days of deployment and experiences related to pastoral care.

After speaking with other participants, Chaplain (Capt.) Shawn Bishop decided to try a strength and conditioning program offered at the Joint Base Balad gym.

“I was reluctant to try it at first because of a lower back injury that I have,” said the chaplain who is deployed from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. “But they told me that if I do the form and technique correctly, I won’t injure myself, and that I could scale the workout to the amount that’s right for my body at this time.”

“Starting off, it was intense, but after a week or so my body got used to it,” the Stow, Ohio, native continued. “It’s still hard, but it’s more natural now.”

For extra caution, the chaplain explained that by wearing a sacralilliac belt, combined with correct form, he has been incident free.

“I’ve found the workout to be an approach to fitness which mirrors some of my personal philosophy of dynamic change and development,” said Chaplain Bishop, who recently turned 40. “It is organic, evolving and uses repeated and diverse actions in the short run to influence long-term improvement.”

Chaplain Bishop says he would compare the class to climbing trees when he was a kid.

“It’s like playing for adults, it’s always different, it holds your attention and it doesn’t get boring,” he said. “I now feel that I am stronger, have more stamina and I am less worried about my lower back.”

For anyone interested in trying a class at the gym, Chaplain Bishop recommends talking to the instructor first and working together with others in the class.

When Chaplain Bishop is not at the gym, he works as a chaplain related to both the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group and 332nd Expeditionary Mission Support Group. He also leads the contemporary worship service at 9:30 a.m. Sundays.

“I find it to be an interesting parallel to a spiritual worldview I embrace which is a belief that life is a sequence of grace and personal will,” he said. “Sometimes we get what we don’t earn, like second chances, and then we have to use our personal will to act on a new future, all with a continuing dynamic interplay between grace and choice.”

“In my case I was graced on several occasions by invitations to participate with explanations about methods which gave me confidence that I would not reinjure my back,” he continued. “In scaling certain activities, we do what we can do, even if it isn’t initially the overall recommendation. One’s personal will comes in acting on the opportunity, embracing the investment of another and pushing hard through something challenging, yet doable.”

This month, Chaplain Bishop is scheduled to return home to his wife, Claudia, and his children Victoria, 15, Olivia, 10, Sophia, 7, Emilia, 5, and Mateo, 3.

• Date Taken: 07.07.2011
• Date Posted: 07.07.2011 06:20
• Story ID: 73336
• Location: SALAH AD DIN, IQ