Prayer Breakfast to highlight recovery after trauma

  • Published
  • By Mark Wyatt
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The Rev. James A. Tilbe, Mass. Corps of Fire Chaplains chief chaplain, is the scheduled guest speaker at Hanscom's National Prayer Breakfast April 4 at 8 a.m. at the Minuteman Commons.

Tilbe's theme for his address is, "Finishing the Race: Faith to Overcome Adversity."

As a fire chaplain, Tilbe provides spiritual and emotional support to firefighters and their family members as well as citizens of the Commonwealth when they become victims of fire, medical emergencies or natural disasters.

Fire Department chaplains respond to emergencies, too, such as the Boston bombing last April.

"The message this year will be one year later, what has it taken to get us past the trauma [of the Boston bombing]," said Chaplain (Maj.) Robert E. Borger, 66th Air Base Group installation chaplain. "Chaplain Tilbe began ministering after-action trauma within an hour or two of the bombing to the firefighters that were providing direct support. He saw a lot of things."

And as the one-year anniversary approaches, Borger thought that in addition to the adversity associated with the bombing, Hanscom also experienced many other adversities over the past 12 months.

"When I started to think about planning this event, I considered that Hanscom just didn't experience the trauma of the bombing in Boston, since last April, the base has experienced furloughs, the potential of force management and sequestration, all of which may not be as traumatic as a bomb going off, however, those events can change the normalcy of one's lives dramatically -- and traumatically."

When asked to speak at the event this year, Tilbe noted that during a candlelight vigil after the bombing, a gust of wind blew candles out throughout the gathered crowd. He uses this metaphorically when discussing resiliency.

"In the shadows of fear, anger and grief that came after the bombing, we frequently had to relight each other's metaphorical candles," said Tilbe. "But our light continued to shine, despite the bombing, despite the violence that occurred Thursday and Friday, despite the lockdown of the city. And our light shines still."

Borger points out that people didn't need to be injured in the race to be impacted by it.

"At the breakfast, we'll look at using faith as one venue to overcome the trauma," he said.

Members of the Hanscom community who were present at the bombing will also be involved in the program.

Cost for the prayer breakfast is $13. Chapel staff will be selling tickets in the common areas of Buildings 1305, 1606, and 1614 on March 7, 12 and 14 from 12 noon to 1 p.m.

For further information on the Prayer Breakfast or to purchase tickets in advance, contact the chapel at 781-225-5501.