Posts Tagged ‘Twentieth Century’
It’s our choice
“The real problem is in the hearts and minds of men. It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.” Albert Einstein
The best man I ever new – Father’s Day 2009
When the call came that August day, I was working at Safeway, stocking grocery shelves to earn money for college. My dad was dead; a heart attack. The family anchor was gone.
We ask them to kill – VETERAN’S DAY
We ask our military to do the unspeakable, the unthinkable. We ask them to kill fellow human beings. We ask of them what we are unable to ask of ourselves. Moreover, we do not want to see or know what they do. We are appalled when we see a television image of a marine killing an Iraqi who is “faking dead.” We condemn that marine. We must or else we feel we are condoning it. It doesn’t matter that he did nothing wrong. We saw it. We saw him kill that man. We are not supposed to see that happen. How dare he make it real.
“A brother’s a brother”
I recently made each of my three brothers a gift, an irregularly shaped piece of three-quarter inch thick walnut about seven inches square, with a two-inch by six-inch brass plaque. In front of the plaque sits a metal scale model 1996 John Deere riding lawn mower and four small sticks tied in a bundle. I worried these were a bit too ‘hokey’ and each one might end up in the back of a closet. Instead, each brother has theirs sitting out. Well, at least they’re sitting out when I visit.
The war we don’t celebrate
Shouldn’t we celebrate the anniversary of a war? Don’t the lost lives deserve recognition? Most wars do deserve celebration; but not all wars. Wars that never seem to end, that have ongoing deaths, are difficult to celebrate. Wars like those in many third world countries seem endless; seem to be a way of life, continuing for decades. How do you celebrate that type of war? The Palestinians and Israelis have been at war so long the violence is a daily routine.
