KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - From jokingly advising Wiccan soldiers to keep their clothes on when celebrating the spring equinox to coaxing troops to talk about the trauma of surviving a roadside bomb, Canadian Forces chaplains are in Afghanistan for everyone.
Maj. Malcolm Berry smiles as he recalls being approached on the NATO base in Kandahar a few weeks ago by a group of soldiers of the Wiccan faith -- a neo-pagan religion strongly tied to nature.
"They wanted to welcome the spring in a ceremony where they are very thankful to Mother Earth and the new moon with pagan prayers,'' said Berry, the senior chaplain for Task Force Afghanistan.
"We had no difficulty with that. We just didn't want them to do it `sky-clad' (naked) in this environment because it would be too dangerous.''
The six Wiccans -- a Canadian and five Americans -- were invited to hold their service outside the Christian fellowship centre.
They were given water, candles and food that they were welcomed to eat inside the centre after the ceremony.
The Wiccans were treated with the same respect as any Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist.
"We are way ahead of the curve in terms of adaptability, understanding others, being sensitive to the needs of all Canadians,'' said Berry, a friendly, talkative Anglican minister from Oromocto, N.B.
Many of the soldiers who want to chat or seek advice say they aren't religious at all.
That easygoing inclusive philosophy appears to work well for the small team of chaplains who are responsible for the spiritual well being of more than 2,500 Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
The open-minded attitude is appreciated by the troops.
Maj. Lisa Elliott, a Wiccan, said being allowed to openly celebrate her beliefs makes her a better soldier and makes it easier to serve her tour in Afghanistan.
"You are challenged when you come over here just to deal with the situation and by somebody supporting your faith it makes it less challenging,'' said Elliot.
"It gave me the extra energy to go on with my job. I felt re-grounded. I felt at home.''
Elliot said she and her Wiccan colleagues never considered going sky-clad during their ceremony to mark the greening of the Earth.
Soldiers may be of different faiths, but they all share similar feelings of loneliness and fear about killing, dying, being away from home and keeping their families together, Berry said.
While not therapists, the chaplains are trained to be aware of signs of distress and will refer soldiers needing help to medical professionals or a social worker.
Whenever a soldier is injured by a roadside bomb or suffers any trauma, the chaplains encourage them to talk about it instead of keeping their feelings to themselves.
"We ask them to tell us what happened,'' said Berry, a reservist, as he lit another in a series of Lucky Strike cigarettes.
"We look for positive words and phrases that they say, and we re-frame the story back to them showing all the positive things that occurred in this action.''
Berry, who reports directly to Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, the task force commander, is responsible for keeping tabs on the morale of the soldiers.
To strengthen their bond with the troops, the chaplains now spend more time in the field and forward operating bases than in Kandahar.
The soldiers want the chaplains outside the main base, he said.
"They want us there because it gives them a sense of comfort to know that there is someone they can talk to who won't see them as being weak.''
The toughest part of being in Afghanistan for Berry is being away from his wife and four children _ a sentiment that allows him to empathize with the feelings of the soldiers he serves.
When he needs to talk, Berry said he turns to his fellow chaplains for solace, regardless of their religious denomination.
`"I will go to anyone's service if I am in need,'' he said. "On the essentials, we are unified.''
