Simple America

Many bloggers have mentioned how they long for world peace. As a former soldier I would very much like to see peace all over the world. Soldiers suffer a great deal in their profession. In my country they do so freely and with the knowledge that they may be sacriced. But they are willing to offer their blood in exchange for freedom.

While it would be easy to pray for world peace I find that it would be a prayer unanswered. As a Christian I recall Jesus on the Mount of Olives where he is quoted in Matthew 24:6 to have said, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” This tells me that man is not capable of peace on his own terms. War will be with us always.

Rather than pray in futility and frustration for that which cannot be, I choose to pray in a different way. My prayers are for the safety of my country’s military. I ask God the Father to provide them with the best tools to do their job, the sustenance to keep them healthy and capable in the field and the energy to carry out their mission and desire to obey the lawful orders of their commanding officers. As long as there are men, that choose violence to promote their ideals a strong military is required. Without a wall of bayonets to secure freedom there is nothing to insure any measurable or lasting peace. 

A right thinking country with a strong military deters tyrants and inspires them to remain quaking behind their walls. In the fourth verse of the Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key wrote, “Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just”. Hard words, but a doctrine that must be followed if freedom is to be secured. That is what should have been cited before going into Iraq, rather than the hunt for WMDs. Much easier to rally round that thought and not have the lack of WMDs hurt the American image down the road.

But there was no choice but  to go to Iraq. When America hides behind its shore or appears weak, great wars start. Appeasement has never led to peace. I challenge anyone to show me a time in history where a dictator respected the peace of a nation or people he considered weak. I am always eager to learn something new.

I hate the thought of war. But a loss of freedom instills a greater fear. May my brothers-in-arms be safe, complete their mission, and return home to their families whole and happy. I hope those that would attack freedom are killed or repent their vile intentions and find peaceful pursuits. Until they change or die there can be no peace. A peace the world would find most welcome.

Zara’s Mama asked me in a recent post, “How many years to go before you think we can get our lives back for good (being a parent)?”

The question is honest and I believe she asked it because I griped about commitments with my children. And active children have quite a few appointments during any particular week with schooling, extra classes, sports, and clubs. Often I feel like a chaffeur as I race from one program to the next.

But ZM really got me thinking. When does a parent get their life back? Do you ever go back to the care free times when a husband and wife enjoy each other’s company. Times when one can just go see a film on a whim or go out to eat something ridiculoussy fun in the middle of the night.

But the day comes, or cums rather, that the rabbit dies. Even before the baby comes screaming into the world the parents’ life change. A new diet and sobriety is required by the mother to be and father may join in sympathy (or flaunt the ability to still enjoy these things while his honey cannot). Houses may be purchased, nurserys prepared, classes taken in an effort to be ready for the babe.

Once the child shows up, the parents go through a period of exhaustion. Sleep deprivation as the child’s tiny stomach must be filled during the wee hours, held when crying, or nursed when felling ill. This early dependence of the child on the parents creates a bond. Listening for baby burps and farts turns into making funny faces and eventually progresses into story time.

The child grows and parents are amazed at how time goes. One day you take your baby to pre-k and the next thing you know they are in High School. You stand around confused a bit. Have you given your child the right classes. Did you support the hobbies that enhances the child’s creativity or gives them a chance to get the multi million dollar sports contract? Are the funds building sufficiently for college?

I think the worries about a child never go away? Once they leave home for University the parents must sit home and wonder if their baby is going to class, making good friends, and why they keep asking for more money. When they come home you worry what they do, as they seek out High School friends and leave mom with the laundry and Dad the car so it can be maintenanced.

By now the parents are accustomed to booking their lives around children schedules. They are unsure how to use the free time they suddenly have, though they deny this among friends. But after all of these years can mom and dad go back to the honeymooners tussling under the sheets? Will the same sex drive be there. Or is this when those long ignored hobbies are explored once more? Could be that it is more likely the old folks sit around and wonder what the young un is up to?

And then the day arrives that your baby brings home someone else’s baby and they announce they are to be wed. Now life focuses on joining another couple. Maybe a sense of deja vu might be achieved as the elders recall their own mad dash to marriage. Before you know it they are married and on their own.

Old mom and dad most likely never get back to life as it was. Too much has happened. How likely they recognize themselves as the two giddy kids that walked down the aisle years ago?

And then they recieve news that they are grandparents. They can start the cycle again. But now they have an advantage. When the baby goes from a cute soft cooing creature and suddenly transforms into a screaming kicking little monster they can hand the child back to the parents. Grandparents have it good.

It reminds me of a Bill Cosby joke. Mr. Cosby was in a hospital with his first grandchild. He held the child firmly next to him. Mr. Cosby started talking to the baby. The first grandfatherly conversation.

He said, “Welcome to the world. You and me are going to be great friends. Yes we are. Do you know why we will be such good pals?”

He paused a bit cuddling the infant and then he spoke, “We will be such good friends because we share a common enemy.”

Then Bill looked up and smiled at the new parents. I kind of look forward to grandkids. Though I am happy to wait at least another decade.

Kids have changed my life irrevocably. There is no go back. No one can play a restart card. Ever! When I’m 60 and my kids have moved on I have no wish to do what I once did at 30.

I’ll continue to gripe about my little buggers sometimes. But that’s what happens when you put humans together. Someone has to give in. And a parent gives in usually for better or worse.