I read this on Facebook this morning. A soldier posted this as his status. Or so they say. I'm not going to search to find out who wrote it or why they wrote it or if they wrote it. It just accurately summarized how I feel about Syria and the conflict there.
I wrote the other day and shared a link to information about Syria. We have a very dear friend in our lives who is from Syria. He is Muslim. We are Christians. And we are friends. Bara did a guest post for my blog back in 2007 where he shares how we met and what we have learned from each other. Bara loves his country immensely. He loves the opportunities he has had in America. I want healing in Bara's country. I want him to be able to go home and live in peace.
I think of Bara every time I hear of Syria. It puts a real face with a real place and reminds me that these people are not just anonymous individuals. They are real people with real families and real goals and desires and dreams. Just like us.
I also know that I have a husband in the military, and I have many, many friends in the military, and we want our husbands home with us. I don't want to see more deaths. I don't want to see more families split up. I watched what just five weeks without JB did to my kids. We aren't designed as human beings to be split up from our families. And being split up temporarily, is obviously not the worst thing that war can do to a family.
I did not vote for President Obama. But I pray for him. I support him. I know he and our other government officials want peace as badly as I do. I also know that there is no good answer to evil. Evil is evil. You can't reason with evil.
Here are the soldiers words, which echo I feel perfectly:
Some people are asking me what I think about Syria, so here it is:
I’m tired. I’m tired of people watching their children grow up via Facebook and Skype. I’m tired of hearing a man tell his wife ‘I love you’ followed by ‘I miss you’ for an entire year. I’m tired of wa...tching the military divorce rate shoot sky-high. I’m tired of overhearing some teenager tell his mom over the phone, “I’m going over there” and hearing her cry from 20 feet away. I’m tired of Veterans waiting years to get the help they deserve and need. I’m tired of empty seats at Christmas dinner every other year and anniversary presents in the mail flying overseas. I’m tired of new men and women walking around with invisible wounds that don’t heal.
Our flag is a beautiful thing- but I’m tired of seeing it draped over a casket. I’m tired of men and women missing pieces of their bodies, minds, and souls.
I want peace in Syria. I want people to stop killing each other in Syria, as well as anywhere else in the world. I want to look back on wars, not anticipate them. I want to make plans for the next year, and the year after that don’t revolve around being in a foreign country. I want proof that the people we’re helping aren’t the people who have been trying to kill us for more than a decade. I want to know that the people we’re attacking are the ones who used the Chemical Weapons. I want to know how Syria’s problem is a threat to America, our Freedom, and our people. I want to know why we’re doing this alone, when the use of Chemical Weapons should get an international response.
I can’t protest in uniform or speak against the leaders of our country. But I can address people.
Stop worrying about Miley Cyrus rubbing her ass on Beetlejuice. The next season of The Walking Dead will be available on DVD and Netflix and I promise, it won’t change from what they’ve shown on television. Unless you play football, and your income depends on that next game, stop obsessing over a sport for a bit. The clubs, bars, honky-tonks, and juke joints will be there all year.
Ben Affleck isn’t a real hero, so it doesn’t matter what he does in a Batman costume at this point. You might want to turn your attention to this for just a minute, and maybe say how you feel about it- one way or another.
Because a whole lot of people are going to die real soon, no matter what. It’s just a matter of who they are.
Some people are asking me what I think about Syria, so here it is:
I’m tired. I’m tired of people watching their children grow up via Facebook and Skype. I’m tired of hearing a man tell his wife ‘I love you’ followed by ‘I miss you’ for an entire year. I’m tired of wa...tching the military divorce rate shoot sky-high. I’m tired of overhearing some teenager tell his mom over the phone, “I’m going over there” and hearing her cry from 20 feet away. I’m tired of Veterans waiting years to get the help they deserve and need. I’m tired of empty seats at Christmas dinner every other year and anniversary presents in the mail flying overseas. I’m tired of new men and women walking around with invisible wounds that don’t heal.
Our flag is a beautiful thing- but I’m tired of seeing it draped over a casket. I’m tired of men and women missing pieces of their bodies, minds, and souls.
I want peace in Syria. I want people to stop killing each other in Syria, as well as anywhere else in the world. I want to look back on wars, not anticipate them. I want to make plans for the next year, and the year after that don’t revolve around being in a foreign country. I want proof that the people we’re helping aren’t the people who have been trying to kill us for more than a decade. I want to know that the people we’re attacking are the ones who used the Chemical Weapons. I want to know how Syria’s problem is a threat to America, our Freedom, and our people. I want to know why we’re doing this alone, when the use of Chemical Weapons should get an international response.
I can’t protest in uniform or speak against the leaders of our country. But I can address people.
Stop worrying about Miley Cyrus rubbing her ass on Beetlejuice. The next season of The Walking Dead will be available on DVD and Netflix and I promise, it won’t change from what they’ve shown on television. Unless you play football, and your income depends on that next game, stop obsessing over a sport for a bit. The clubs, bars, honky-tonks, and juke joints will be there all year.
Ben Affleck isn’t a real hero, so it doesn’t matter what he does in a Batman costume at this point. You might want to turn your attention to this for just a minute, and maybe say how you feel about it- one way or another.
Because a whole lot of people are going to die real soon, no matter what. It’s just a matter of who they are.
1 comment:
This was SO EXCELLENT! I totally agree...what wonderful insight and actual overview of the way it truly is....thank you for sharing this.
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