How I Spent my Fourth of July

The air was thick and sticky; smells of perfume, cologne, and sweat mixed with the propane from the grills lined up in the parking lot. My father, mother, uncle, and mother-in-law were somewhere nearby, but difficult to spot and impossible to talk to in the crowded terminal. Bohdan perched upon David’s shoulders and Vivi upon mine – the only two in the group to have a semi-clear shot down the long corridor. We waited, shifting back and forth attempting to catch a glimpse of who we had come to see.

The sounds of cheering and applause could be heard in the distance and then grew as the wave of energy swept through the crowd. They had arrived! A sea of people parted ever so slightly to make way for the troops, but then quickly closed in around them, arms patting shoulders, women offering hugs (the older one’s sneaking a smack on the cheeks of the handsome soldiers).

I found myself frantically clapping like mad. If I was going to make it until the last soldier passed by, I needed to pace myself, so I slowed down to a more calm, even cadence. I continued to shift, catching glimpses here and there of a tan hat or a buzz cut, a smile here, a nod there as men and women filed past the throng.

I blinked away the tears. What was I feeling? Pride? Sadness? Patriotism? I looked around. I was not the only one moved by this simple experience. There we were, a few hundred people; men, women, children, Democrats, Republicans, Christians, Atheists, Blue-collar workers, upper management, war supporters and war protesters, all there together, in UNITY. Doing something GOOD. Learning from past mistakes. Setting aside our POLITICAL AGENDA, ignoring our DIFFERENCES and practicing a random act of KINDESS.

This is what it meant to me to welcome home an airplane full of soldiers from Iraq at the Pease Trade Port. Did I get to shake a hand? No. Did I get to have long, meaningful talks with the men and women who have so selflessly served our country and hear first-hand what they think and have experienced? No. Did I get to do anything to any one of these soldiers to personally thank them for their sacrifices? No.

All I did was stand and clap, did my best not to cry and offered up silent prayers for the soldiers and their families, and those who won’t be coming home. And if that is all I get to do when I go back (which I promise you, I will) it will be worth every minute and worthy of many repeat trips.

*Thanks go to Michelle for informing me of this amazing opportunity. You are awesome!

**Anyone is welcome to greet the troops at Pease whenever they have planes coming home from or going out to Iraq. For more information visit www.peasegreeters.org

Move that Boulder!

I’ve been reading some of the news articles online about the President and Congress and how nobody is able to accomplish anything of real value because of the constant bickering and unwillingness or inability to work together. Therefore, the people of our nation are impatient about the status of our economy, about the rising taxes and national debt, about our involvement in Iraq, etc., etc. Our Congress which is now being labeled the “Do Nothing Congress” because of their Tuesday through Thursday workweek (!) and inability to actually accomplish anything when together, is being blamed for all sorts of evil in our nation and the world. Why can’t the Democrats and Republicans do any good together? Why is the battle between “Red vs. Blue” more important than the battle for righteousness, justice and fairness these days? Why can’t those in Washington “do their job” and help others, decrease the unemployment rate, take better care of the environment, put more money in our pockets, get our soldiers out of Iraq and get rid of injustice in the world? Who do we think we are anyway??* I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I do know there’s an awful lot of finger-pointing going around. And when fingers are pointing, hands are idle. I was forwarded this email and liked this little story contained therein:

The Obstacle in Our Path

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a
roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if
anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the
king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by
and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the
King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did
anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of
vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the
peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the
stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. After the
peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed
a purse lying in the road where the boulder had
been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note
from the King indicating that the gold was for the
person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The
peasant learned what many of us never understand -

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve
our condition.

I would like to add to the last sentence “it also presents an opportunity to improve other’s conditions.” There seems to be no longer any personal responsibility for anything these days, and this irks me to no end. People no longer know how to take blame but are very good at dishing it out. It’s a very rare thing to hear anyone apologize for anything these days. There is this sense of entitlement adopted by us, and it seems to be getting worse as the generations continue. I am as guilty of this as the next person, however I’m convicted to be less so, not only for my own sake, but also for my children’s sake. Do I really want my children to adopt a victim mentality and think they are powerless to change their life or others’ lives? Do I want them to stand idly by waiting for a politician to feed their next door neighbor when there is plenty of food in their own cabinets? Do I want my children to be the type of bystanders that do nothing while an elderly person is mugged and beaten near them? I hope my children will not heed the advice of others when told they can’t do the improbable or even impossible when it comes to changing the world for the better. I hope my children will be the type to want to run into danger if necessary and fight for justice for Truth’s sake. I hope I am able to teach my children to be leaders, but if not leaders, then followers of good and true leadership. I hope my children will come to understand that sometimes looking to a leader to accomplish something is pointless and should instead look into a mirror. I hope we can all be the type to put our burdens down every once in awhile and with much difficulty, move the boulder and make Life easier and worthier, not only for ourselves, but for others as well.

Crystal

P.S. Thanks for listening and allowing me to vent my frustration and stand on my soapbox for a second. Comments welcome…

*These questions are not necessarily “my” questions but more a representative sampling of questions heard throughout the nation. Unfortunately, not being politically or socially as active as I feel I should be, I don’t feel equipped to necessarily ask many questions but rather observe the questions being asked and topics being discussed. How’s that for a disclaimer? :-)

And, by the way, as far as the “who do we think we are” question, I personally feel we are an amazingly blessed and powerful nation that can help right many wrongs in the world while having the ability to take care of “our own”, but unfortunately, don’t always actually do this which is where we, as the church, should come in. Maybe if there was less government, there would be more opportunities for the church to serve, but that’s another whole argument for another soapbox moment. :-)