Thursday, November 13, 2014

"Atten-hut!........................"

Veterans Day was a particularly pleasant experience for me, personally, this year, although I do confess the weather dismissing my usual visit to the cemetery. Nothing so drastic in this area other than a chilly rain; but not suitable for an old man to wander among all those hillside graves. Beth and I went out to O’Charley’s for an early lunch where my tilapia was free, indeed, the restaurant filled with those who presently serve and many like me with it all many years behind us. We don’t usually seek out such gratuity, but talking with others there, regardless of branch, ignited within me the bond created through having worn the uniform, the heartfelt love for this country, the flag and what it stands for, the Constitution, not the corruption that politics brings to it. Not all agree. Not all understand. And I would go so far as to say, as humanity tends to do with almost any issue, people, in debating war in all its horror, it seems to me, get into some pretty nasty battles right here on the home-front. That, in itself, seems a bit inane when you think about it, crying “Peace! Peace!” with a club in one’s hand, anger in your heart. At the same time, without any wish on my part to suggest judgment on a man’s soul one way or the other, it gives me pause that, almost always, it is a given for us to usher the fallen into heaven and assign the enemy to the other location, one’s ultimate sacrifice for his nation automatically assuring entrance through the Pearly Gates. Weird where we have taken Christianity. I weep. I wrestle. Souls are at stake. Peace is an inner connection known in a stumble down the path wherein I salute all those who have enlisted. There is another banner picked up along the way, though, this one blood-stained, too, its attachment to my soul an even stronger pull on my allegiance……..

3 comments:

  1. You made me think of a Neville Brothers tune called God on Our Side.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXS1GunoXoo

    It does feel good to connect with those with whom we can relate. It's a relief not having to explain everything to one without the same experience.

    Lately more often I keep recalling my mum's words about waiting until I had strolled through her garden or in other words, walked a mile in her shoes. So so true.

    It is also good to have that banner attached to the soul. All other details eventually fall away.

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    1. Also wanted to add that I thought alot about my dad, his dad and all others who had served. With these major military anniversaries this past year, D-Day, start of WWI, etc, I've been wanting to know more and more about the whole thing, not only about my relatives but about stories of those who marched off to war. Humanity's worst stories and some of the finest.

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    2. Just listened to both your video and the original version by Bob Dylan. Don't consider myself neither a "dove" or a "hawk", but one who wrestles with Christ "in" me, seeing the world stage as an issue He inserts Himself into, His reins therein beyond our understanding and His reins on me being what I need to be concerned with. I do believe that "some of humanity's worst stories and some of the finest" can be found, His presence in the midst of what we do not understand....

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