“Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation; it means understanding that something is what it is and that there’s got to be a way through it.”
Michael J. Fox
“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light
(Do I see only me? BE STILL in HIS presence, there’s no reason to fight).
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s
last gleaming (Are we proud and united or am I just dreaming?)
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through
the perilous fight (HE bore the
stripes and the scars; will his love shine bright?)
O’er the ramparts we watched were so
gallantly streaming (Have the
events that united us lost their meaning?)
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs
bursting in air, (We will
gather and cheer, in a week will we care?)
Gave proof through the night that our flag
was still there (Will we give
thanks in a prayer?)
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
(Will we honor those who gave to
save?)
O’er the land of the free and the home of the
brave?” (And the one
who conquered the grave?)
Mixed races, religions, and speeches of oneness ~we should be unified. All is not quiet on the western front. Our humanity easily slips into the smoke of the bbq grill. Rather than remember, we rejoice in the gift of time. The gift a multitude have lost. Our enemies (were) are young humans with hearts and souls. Both sides killing one another; trembling hands and heavy hearts. A bloody coat holds the picture of a wife or husband, son or daughter, a beloved pet, and a letter from a Mother.
All quiet on the Western Front? Who will decorate the graves when a generation is gone?
Do we know sacrifice? As I sit in my comfortable home, with the freedom to go, do, and be, I can’t help but remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for me. God, break my heart for what breaks yours. Greed. Power. Control.
All quiet on the Western Front? Shallow graves to shallow thinking, bloody hands to broken spirits, battles of belonging to winning wars in our hearts and minds. Defending our opinions rather than extending a hand of fellowship. Do we SEE one another as…humans? Will we honor? Or will we just forget? I’ll visit the graves of those I love, and pay respect for those I’ve never met.
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” Abraham Lincoln (Gettysburg Address)
“Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came…Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this might scourge of war of may speedily pass away.” (Abraham Lincoln-Second Inaugural Address)
“I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.”
William Tecumseh Sherman
“It is well that war is terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.”
Robert E. Lee
“Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“All wars are civil wars, because all men are brother.”
Francois Fenelon
“The most successful war seldom pays for its losses.”
Thomas Jefferson
“There will be one day spring from the brain of science a machine or force so fearful in it’s potentialities, so absolutely terrifying, that even man, the fighter, who will dare torture and death in order to inflict torture and death, will be appalled, and so abandon war forever.”
Thomas A. Edison
“You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.”
Albert Einstein
“There was never a good war, or bad peace.”
Benjamin Franklin
“I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.”
Ulysses S. Grant
“Don’t forget what I discovered that over ninety percent of all national deficits from 1921 to 1939 were caused by payments for past, present, and future wars.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
“In modern war…you will die like a dog for no good reason.”
Ernest Hemingway
“In war, you win or lose, live or die-and the difference is just an eyelash.”
Douglas MacArthur
“What is human warfare but just this: an effort to make the laws of God and nature take sides with one party.”
Henry David Thoreau
Do you know the ultimate sacrifice made for YOU? You are loved.
Have faith 💚
Another tornado watch. The bright sunny sky has darkened with gray clouds. The hot and humid wind is swirling the leaves. Water remains pooled up from the last storm. I can prepare for the worst, and expect the best-I have complete confidence that I have no control.
“In this hour, I do not believe that any darkness will endure.”
J.R.R. Tolkien
A trip to the E.R. helped me overcome a pain crisis, another scan, more scattered lesions, a bulging disc, and new medication. A compassionate call with my nurse identified the watches and warnings–a storm ahead if I don’t comply.
School ends, and summer begins. Future days include sunny skies, holidays, BBQs, family gatherings, and vacations. A cycle of storms, homelessness, poverty, and loneliness. I’m forecasting laughter, joy, fun, and memories- torrential tears, trials, and temptations. The Farmer’s Almanac can’t predict a mental health crisis, yet we know it’s here. How do we protect our crops? Do you have confidence in things NOT SEEN? There’s a storm warning every day. Can we…will we…? Help a neighbor take cover in compassion, seek shelter in our Savior, and create a safe place in our Creator. Storm drills caused me to question God; surviving the storms built my confidence—a concrete soul shelter.
“Any faith that must be supported by the evidence of the senses is not real faith.” — A.W. Tozer
