Wednesday, July 20, 2011

A Soldier's Grace

A Soldier’s Grace
© 2011 Linda McKinney
All Rights Reserved

I

A soldier’s grace
Always resides
Inside his soul and faith.

In danger’s face
Or sorrow’s place
He stands upon one thing:

His fellow soldiers,
His spirit d’ corps,
His training, his confidence,

All reside
Inside his soul
And from it eternally spring.

His country relies
Upon his grace
To stand and take the call

To defend us all
And go to fall
If need requires it.

A soldier’s grace
Gives his call
A higher calling still.

And when in war
He’ll go before
Face the brunt of it.

Harm and loss
He faces,
Answer to the call

And some do fall
And others hurt
Our stead they give it all.

Let none deny
The soldier’s cry
“Freedom lives if I die.”

A soldier’s grace
always resides
inside his soul and faith.



II

A soldier bowed his head
To bless the MRE
He sighed and calmed
And quietly said these words to GOD:

“Dear Lord, I’m here
In this desert place.
I came to defend my country,
to keep my family safe.

I pray you watch o’er them,
Keep Jenny and Brandon brave,
Keep my beloved wife
Having faith in me
Don’t let them want
For any little thing.

Keep them all healthy,
Lord, keep them healthy,
So I can return
And see them all.

Don’t let them hurt,
Don’t let them fear,
Don’t let them cry
From things idiots say
About their dad serving
To keep terrorists at bay.

Lord, bless them, keep them,
In your loving arms,
And keep my buddies,
Here, Lord, safe from desert harm.
If I have to fall, Lord,
Pray let it be to serve,
Those who are here with me,
As well as those who “don’t deserve”
Who say that I am wrong, Lord,
For being here in answer
To my country’s call
To protect them from those
Who would see freedom fall.

Lord, I pray for my president,
Let him see Your path, Lord,
To do as You would have him,
And if not guided by
Your loving arms and sight,
Let our president do no harm
To those who fight for what’s right.

Lord, guide me, also,
And don’t let me do wrong.
If I wander near it, Lord,
Stop me, make me strong.

Lord, bless this food now,
Bless this MRE.
Make it nourish me,
Make me grateful,
Remind me that others have less,
And with it I am truly blessed.

GOD I bless and thank You,
For all You say and do,
Your guidance, Lord,
Is what I crave,
Your wisdom, I desire, too.
Let me please You, Lord.
Let me make You proud
Of having a son, Lord,
A humble son like me.

I ask all this in Jesus’ name,
And for Him I thank you more,
Than anything I can think of
His book has my name.

So, thank you, Lord,
For this food,
And for my buddies, too,
Who help me through this desert place,
And who thank You, too.”

With these words,
And another sigh,
Soldier raised his head.
Upward looking,
Soldier smiled
and whispered, “Amen”.



III

“Excuse me, Ma’am,” the grieving widow heard,
“It’s about your husband, Bird.”

The widow said, “What is it?” her heart beat out her fears.
The blonde soldier in Class As wiped away a tear.

“I want to tell you that I loved him,” she covered her mouth in dismay,
“No, not like that! I’m sorry, Ma’am. I meant a different way.”

“You see, he was my sergeant, but he was more as well:
My friend, my shoulder, my rely-upon, my laughter when life was hell.

He kept an eye out for me, he lifted my spirits tall.
He made my two years over there into my life’s call.

He told me to remember why we served in sand.
To keep in mind my loved ones: my sis, my mom, my dad.

He showed me pictures of his kids, of you and Bucky, too,
And told me of the reason he lives: it all went back to you.

He told me that you brought him to the Lord when he was twenty-two,
And that he was always thankful for the Lord giving him to you.

He loved you very much, you see, and with that love his eyes shone
And with your memory he said that he was never alone.

He saw you as his shining star that led him from afar
His thoughts of you kept his head high and took him from the war.

He loved to talk about you, his children and his dog;
But mostly you, Ma’am. You made him all agog.”

Blonde soldier held out her hand, within it a letter, tattered, torn,
“He asked me to give this to you, if he should never make it home.”

Soldier’s widow tried to smile, a small “Thank you” was all she said,
A quick salute, blonde soldier left her, at the grave of husband dead.

The letter, tattered, torn, was dated a year or so ago,
And as she read it, her tears fell softly upon its indigo.

“My dearest Catherine I love you.” the letter started there,
The words took her away; of others she was not aware.

Blonde soldier made it to the car, collapsed inside,
Pain’s burden weighed her down, but from loss blonde soldier cried.

She wished her friend had survived to return to those he loved.
She knew he died to save others and herself, to safety she was shoved.

Blonde soldier finally sat upright, and wiped the tears away,
And, looking at the sight where her best friend’s body lay,

She said aloud, “I promise you I’ll ne’er forget the lessons you taught me, Sir.
Nor will I ever go back to what I once was, because you’ve made me better.”

She nodded to the friend who had brought her to the grave,
And hoped she had handled things with poise and with some grace.

Monday, July 4, 2011

July 4, 2011: Independence Day Redux

This is the day we celebrate our independence from King George III; his tyranny, taxes, arbitrary rules and fickle finger of fate. We celebrate our sovereignty, our opportunity, our liberties – or do we?

In 1776 it was a dream, a plan, a yearning, beating within the hearts of men in a land that offered the choice of freedom or continued servitude. In 1776 the monarch of England had done so much wrong that the Colonists had had enough. They wanted out. They could no longer take the king’s control – distant though it was – and wanted to rule their own destinies and find out what their own decisions could do for them: for their futures, their opportunities, their children’s futures. They wanted to see if they could truly make it on their own without the help nor interference of a distant ruler. Their heartbeats kept time to the drums of liberty beating deep inside and getting louder within their breasts with every passing day, each usurpation, each arbitrary breaking of the king’s previous agreements and decisions. It was freedom that called them, spurred them on, fought to be heard, to be dreamed of, aspired to, worked toward, planned for. Liberty beckoned to them like a far off voice and they had to listen. It was this drumbeat, this sweet, sweet voice that made them act, and – thankfully -- made America. It was to this call, sweet and lusty, that the Founding Fathers answered and answer to still.

“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among them the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” – U.S. Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

The Founding Fathers said, “You’ve given us enough cause.” They were fed up. They’d had enough. They were tired of the games, the whims and fancies of a fickle king and they would no longer tolerate it. Not only were they tired of King George’s fancies, but they declared that GOD Himself was tired of King G’s fickleness: “the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them… [my italics]” They were saying that GOD says they are entitled to be free, to be self-ruling, to have the liberties they delineated in their Declaration of Independence. They were not only fed up with King G., they were basically saying that GOD was fed up with King G., as well. They were saying that they were ready to answer not only to GOD but to posterity as well; they’d answer to us, to their future and their progeny.

They answer still today; although, to a different set of questions. While yesterday’s questions were things like, “How may I get to America and – with hard work and perseverance – make a lot of money and make my own and my grandchildren’s futures bright?” or “When I make enough money to open my own shop, will I be able to build that house and bring Momma over, too?” Or sometimes the questions were more esoteric: “Why in America and nowhere else in the whole world can I work hard and make a lot of money and live like a rich person when elsewhere in the world it’s always prevented?” Where is it written that the Founding Fathers no longer answer to those who wished for a brighter future in 1776, instead of just us?
The Founding Fathers would be appalled at today’s questions, “When does the government check come for this month’s groceries and when does the check come for the rent, car payment, and the medical care?” Oh, and if you’re paying attention, “Why did America’s Founding Fathers make such a mistake as to make America a Representative Republic instead of a Communist country?” or “Why is America such a horrible country, why is it so evil?”

These questions are being asked of the Founding Fathers by people who have been taught inside-out lies: right is wrong, death is life, prison is freedom, tyranny is good, want is plenty and servitude is the natural yearning of every human heart. It’s not that the Founding Fathers never foresaw the possibility of such a thing. I’m sure there were those in 1776 who were being told the same thing by those who wished to perpetuate King G’s reign and who would benefit from America being under his thumb for years to come. “The Federalist Papers” were written to cover just such attacks and idiocies, to educate the people in the truth, in the correctness of the journey to freedom, to help them hear the beating of the drum of freedom as did the Founding Fathers.

However, since “The Federalist Papers” are no longer taught in schools – public, private, nor home schools, for the most part – it is up to each of us individually, to look at the truth without the distortions that tell us that servitude is freedom and want is plenty. It is up to us to look at the truth, to read the Founding Fathers’ writings, to read their own words in individual correspondences, in public writings to find out the truth about our country’s founding and the Founders’ beliefs, desires for our country and their goals and satisfaction in setting up such a radical experiment.

If it is found that Jefferson wanted every person to be able to prosper off of their own work and not to have to hand over most of what they worked hard to earn to someone other than themselves (government or private individual), then that must be taken into consideration in the reader’s evaluation of our Founding. Whether Jefferson actually had slaves or no is not the question. The question is rather, “What is it he wanted for the country – for America, for her future – as a whole?” If the answer is that Jefferson wanted everyone to own slaves and thought that America as a whole would have been better off if everyone everywhere owned slaves, then so be it. If not, however – and there is no evidence to even suggest such a thing -- that must be taken into account when you look at the person. Yet, those who would teach us that America is bad – those with the inside-out “truth”: wrong is right, death is life, etc. -- would teach us that it was okay to consider one portion of Jefferson’s life and not the whole. That’s like saying a lasagna is just the noodles!

America is the greatest country on earth, but the liberals, progressives, Wrongies, wish to have America be labeled as a failure so that they can get it into the thought processes, beliefs and ideals of Americans that we are bad people who need -- nay, deserve --- to be punished. Whether they punish us via restricting our words (political correctness, anyone?), our deeds (airport security?), or our right to self-defense (gun control?), it is still a just and deserved punishment in their own minds. Remember, wrong is right, servitude is freedom: to people who believe that, our punishment is just strictly based upon the fact that we believe in the U.S. Constitution and we wish our lawmakers to abide by it.

The inside-out lies form the basis of a vast amount of our neighbors and those who are in places of power: george soros, obama, nancy pelosi, (I only cap the names of people I respect). Their lies are the foundation of our current dire circumstances. Their inside-out beliefs, twisted as they are, form the foundation of their actions, their votes, their speeches. They have nothing more to base their ideals on than a belief that they were somehow wronged by those who are not themselves. There is no evidence that they were somehow mistreated by others: obama was in an elite school in Hawaii instead of a school that had no running water, peeling leaded paint, and teachers who drank themselves into stupors during the third hour of the school day. Yet his inside-out lies lead him to believe that he was mistreated, somehow wronged, by those of another skin tone. Based upon what facts does he make this assumption, this enormous jump to fantasy land, is what I want to know. Read his two “autobiographies” and see if he was mistreated by the white man. Yet, it’s this kind of thing that he bases his hatred of America upon. Where did he learn to believe the inside-out lies? He learned it from a drugged up Communist/Marxist. He swallowed it all, hook, line and sinker: greedily drinking in the hatred, disdain, venom of his teacher and the inside-out lies became his. He owned them and he loved them. As a normal man’s heart loves freedom, obama’s heart now loved the hatred of America and Americans. It all went against what GOD had ordained, what the Founding Fathers established, fought and -- all or most – lost to establish, nurture, preserve.

This Independence Day, King G. would be dancing in his grave and grinning ear to ear because we are now a nation more foolish than wise, more mislead than informed, more inside-out than true to the truth. It is time for those of us who wish to change things for the better to make a choice and to contemplate that awful position to be in, “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among them the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” Is it time for us to do the same type of thing? Is it time for those of you in the Republican Party to leave that party in order to form a “more perfect union” and to align yourselves with a more important cause than political party – the “R” label after your name?

I propose a three point questionnaire for you to ask yourselves and your representatives in order for you to make an informed decision regarding leaving the Republican Party. Here are the questions:

1) Is the Republican Party leadership showing inside-out leadership – as in are their ideals, policies and practices along the same lines as the Founding Fathers would have them be, or are they somewhere else?

2) Are you happy with the direction the Republican leadership of America is trying to take the country, and if not, what is the political party you are affiliated with doing to prevent it from going in that direction?

3) Will your children’s futures be positively or negatively affected by the Republican leadership’s direction?

If the answer to all three is a negative answer, then either you are happy living in an inside-out world and look forward to fully joining the inside-out cause celeb of the moment, or you are on the wrong side – part of the problem and not the solution – and you need to change that. If the answer to two of three are negatives you are dangerously close to being in an inside-out world and you need to step away from the “lies are reality” fairy tale and avoid being sucked in completely If the answer is one of three, you are just on the edge of the easy slippery slope to the inside-out world and you should swallow hard and be sure that it won’t pull you back again. Yes, we need you in this fight out here, but we also need someone with a good enough head on their shoulders to recognize “inside-out world” when they see it.

America, look at where we are. Look at who our leadership is. Look at what your neighbors want and what they believe. Is this where, twenty years ago, you actually thought we would be? If not, turn off your inside-out glasses and look around. Who got us here? Who allowed it to happen (besides ourselves) and how can we fix what has already gone wrong? Is it fixable within the Republican Party, both parties, or is there another way to fix it? What options do we have to be able to make America the vision of the Founding Fathers as it should have been instead of leaving it the upside-down, inside-out world of obama’s lies?

Would not a good place to start be in a third party political candidate who would be the vision of the Founding Fathers and who sees America as it should be, and not twisted into an evil empire of the progressive left’s lies? Let us not pledge allegiance to a political party. Instead let us pledge allegiance to America – as she should be and can be once again.

God bless America today, tomorrow and forever with a people who will stand up for her, who will stand up for election, facing the arrows and rocks sure to be thrown as the inside-out lies are hurled at the candidate who will say, “Enough! America as the Founding Fathers envisioned her is our future, our basis, our greatest gift as a nation. Let us now go forward as a people who refuse to listen to the lies of our enemies – internal and external – and let us re-found America as the land our Founding Fathers intended. Let us work together to make America into the land of opportunity – a land of hard work and integrity leading to prosperity and a heritage for our children’s children’s children. Let us stop looking to progress into change, and instead regress into our biblical foundations, into our constitutional principles, into our Founders’ cry of freedom for our nation, our lives and our posterity!”