A Warrior's Faith Quotes

“Each of us is the product of our lifestyle, which is a series of habits or behaviors strung together that we cling to day after day. Our behaviors are the products of our beliefs. Those beliefs are products of our thoughts, which can be strongly influenced by the people, events, and environment around us. So”
― Robert Vera, A Warrior's Faith: Navy SEAL Ryan Job, a Life-Changing Firefight, and the Belief That Transformed His Life

“WE ALL HAVE the ability to transform from who we are into who we desire to be.”
― Robert W. Vera, A Warrior's Faith: Navy SEAL Ryan Job, a Life-Changing Firefight, and the Belief That Transformed His Life

“If there is no struggle there is no progress.”
― Robert W. Vera, A Warrior's Faith: Navy SEAL Ryan Job, a Life-Changing Firefight, and the Belief That Transformed His Life

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”
― Robert W. Vera, A Warrior's Faith: Navy SEAL Ryan Job, a Life-Changing Firefight, and the Belief That Transformed His Life

“Ryan was complex—he was big-hearted and caring but also resolute and direct. He once e-mailed me an audio clip of a television news interview he gave after a group of Navy SEALs rescued the captain of the Maersk Alabama tanker ship. Pirates had taken the ship and the captain hostage off the coast of Somalia, Africa. The story was later made into the film Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks. A team of Navy SEAL snipers shot and killed all but one of the hostage takers, who had placed themselves and their hostage in a desperate situation. Ryan told the TV reporter, “Despite what your momma told you, violence does solve problems.”1 I understood exactly what Ryan meant—there was no diplomatic or political solution to the crisis, and allowing pirates to take American vessels and crews hostage would set a bad precedent in other parts of the globe. Weeks before, in fact, the pirates had killed other hostages. Ryan’s statement was in no way meant to be bravado; he was merely conveying the fact that many times violence brings about a successful conclusion to a hostage crisis. The SEALs spoke the only language that the Somali pirates understood: violence. Apparently, the SEALs’ response acted as a deterrent, since the Somali pirates have consequently stayed clear of US flagged vessels. Chris Kyle later turned Ryan’s statement into a patch he wore on his hat.”
― Robert Vera, A Warrior's Faith: Navy SEAL Ryan Job, a Life-Changing Firefight, and the Belief That Transformed His Life

“The PTSD stress response can be triggered by powerful memories. The emotional attachment to the memories is so strong that it can cause the same chemical reaction as the actual event. My thought was that if a body could be trained into this constant state of stress, then it could be trained out of it. I came up with a plan. If Ryan’s stress trigger was the emotional charge attached to his old memories, then we would defuse those memories by creating new, more powerful ones.”
― Robert Vera, A Warrior's Faith: Navy SEAL Ryan Job, a Life-Changing Firefight, and the Belief That Transformed His Life

“In another study of the thalamus, the “Grand Central Station” of the brain, Dr. Newberg called the changes “most unusual.”2 The thalamus plays a critical role in identifying what is real and what is not. In subjects who had meditated consistently for fifteen years, one side of the thalamus was lit up while the other side was dormant.3 “For advanced meditators,” Dr. Newberg reports, “this asymmetric reality becomes their normal state of awareness; God, tranquility, and unity becomes an integral part of their lives, no longer a thought but a palpable experience, as real as the book you are holding in your hand.”4 It’s curious that the “palpable experience” of God—tranquility, peacefulness, and unity—are exactly what Paul described as the “fruit of the Spirit” and evidence of a Christian lifestyle in Galatians 5.”
― Robert Vera, A Warrior's Faith: Navy SEAL Ryan Job, a Life-Changing Firefight, and the Belief That Transformed His Life

“In his book How God Changes Your Brain, neuroscientist Dr. Andrew B. Newberg documents the physical changes to the brain as a person contemplates God. Dr. Newberg conducted brain scans of people who practiced contemplative forms of focused prayer and meditation, revealing a marked decrease in parietal lobe activity. He observed that the decrease in activity “allows the mediator to feel at one with the object of contemplation: with God, the universe, peacefulness, or any other object upon which he or she focuses.”1”
― Robert Vera, A Warrior's Faith: Navy SEAL Ryan Job, a Life-Changing Firefight, and the Belief That Transformed His Life

“Camp Patriot is a God-centered nonprofit organization that provides outdoor adventure excursions for wounded and disabled veterans.”
― Robert W. Vera, A Warrior's Faith: Navy SEAL Ryan Job, a Life-Changing Firefight, and the Belief That Transformed His Life

“The truth is you do have what it takes because you have God on your side, and he has given you strength. This is called character, and character is built upon the stormy billows of hardship, trials, tests, tragedies, and tribulations.”
― Robert W. Vera, A Warrior's Faith: Navy SEAL Ryan Job, a Life-Changing Firefight, and the Belief That Transformed His Life