Not Long Ago

You know, right after *9*1*1*, it was a proud time to be an American and we were bound by a sense of honor and unity. Patriotism was flying high. Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning.

It is hard to imagine that a lot of countries live in a perpetual state of war, famine, genocide, and corruption. We are Americans and America is Good, and Right, and 9*1*1 was terrible because it was on the shores of the privileged.

I believed it was out of my hands, and just waited for that Karma to kick in, baby. That's a pacifist for ya. And then somewhere along the line it dawned on me there are a lot of ways to fight for your country other than shouldering a gun, and I began to feel an incremental shift.

To hear God's voice, turn down life's volume

Randy tells a story about when he was a kid and playing out front with a friend.  A man drove up in a car and somehow coaxed Randy's friend into it and then took off. Randy ran in to tell his dad and they jumped in their big old car and gave chase. They caught up with the man a few blocks down, his dad cut them off with his car, and then grabbed Randy's pal out of the car and took him home to relieved hugs, and a sound spanking.

We know how this story could have played out without the intervention. There are too many heartbreaking stories like this. But I am amazed by Randy's dad, who had only a split second to decide. What did his father teach his son, who rode shotgun with eyes scanning the road for the car? What did Randy learn about being a man and protecting the weak in the face of wrongdoing?

Everybody's got a choice: to wait and see how it turns out; to learn, protect our own interests, and act on it; to battle the powers that be with our vote and our voice; to move elsewhere; or to jump in and take action.

It is what it is.

Not long ago, we were embracing strangers on the street and prayed in neighborhood churches on 9*11*2001.  And all of these shenanigans were already going on behind the scenes.

Not long ago, the roots of our country were forged in violent protest and defiance of the illegal manipulation and taxation of its citizens and control of their money and earnings. We had to fight to be free of England's tyrrany.

If our 401K wasn't looted and our house wasn't seized, and we don't have an empty fridge, does that make it any less of our problem?