A Mental Grenade is a thought or idea that can break through blocks and barriers, can ignite a fire of conversation or creativity, or simply blow your mind. I often grenade conversations; occasionally people ask me to. It’s ironic to hand someone a Mental Grenade (MG); they often just stare until it goes off. I don’t enjoy… no, that’s a lie- I enjoy doing this. God gave me the ability to listen, question, and care. These may sound quite opposed to my previous statements but often an MG is exactly what is required to break down the walls blocking us from the truth. Is it more caring to tell your friend they have food on their shirt or let them make a bad impression for the rest of the day? Increasing the intensity- is it ok to let your friend live in a lie or self deception? If the truth, spoken in love at that time, is important it needs to be said despite the risk. We’re becoming soft as a nation, afraid of offending others. We need truth not propaganda! We need love, caring, and serving others rather than the social media / selfie generation.

Last year I was approached in a parking lot by a college-aged female wielding a clipboard. She requested permission to ask a few questions and out of curiosity I obliged. When the first question was whether I voted for a particular candidate in the last election I knew this was going to be interesting. The survey I was asked to participate in was multiple choice only. The questions were loaded and the answers were limited so that the collected data would support the jaded agenda she wanted to present as “research.” As each question and set of answers was presented I was saddened that the queue of available responses was so shallow. When she asked me for my answer of A, B, C, or D I always gave an E with a lengthy explanation. Don’t let people put you in a box. Drop an MG and change the situation. No one is purely objective. We are all biased by our nature, nurture, present circumstances, and mood. I won’t claim to be “fair and balanced” or unbiased but I come to you with pure intentions. The intent of MG is to discuss real issues, shine a light in dark places, give veterans and first responders a voice, and bring hope wherever possible. You will read not only personal stories of service and sacrifice, current adventures, random thoughts, but also issues relevant to veterans and the nation in general.

Welcome to Mental Grenade.

Drew founded Mental Grenade Jan 2020. He is a follower of Jesus Christ, a medically retired Marine, EOD Tech, husband, father, writer, mountain biker, photographer, facilitator, and fly-fisherman. He seeks to bridge the civilian – military divide and bring hope through honest communication about difficult issues.

These Veteran stories of struggle, adventure, and post traumatic growth need to be heard!
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