SPARE A THOUGHT, DEAR FRIENDS.
The English poet Rupert Brooke ( 1887 - 1915 ) before he left for battle wrote "... If I should die think only this of me that there's some corner of a foreign field that is forever England."
Today with American soldiers dying all the time in every corner of the earth solving other people's problems and fighting other people's demons we could honestly say there's always some corner of a foreign field that is forever Stars and Stripes.
Some may have come to America on the Mayflower ; some may have been washed ashore on Ellis Island; some fled from the hardship of the potato famine while others from the horrors of the holocaust. Some landed at Kennedy waving a temporary H-1 work visa and stayed on permanently. There also were those who entered the country surreptitiously or overstayed and received the benediction of an amnesty.
You may be black or white or something in between. You may be a flaming bleeding heart liberal from the blue states or a conservative evangelical from the red states. You may be feeling low and in a funk fearful of the pink slip that may greet you tomorrow.
Yet on the fourth of November the collective pulse of this nation quickened to fever pitch and the whole world caught the fever - the excitement of a new beginning, a rebirth, a rejuvenation of the American spirit. With one fell swoop this nation from bullets and bluster and obliterating power became an awe inspiring power of example to the rest of the world. On this day a vast majority of Americans expiated for the sins of past years. A time when this country lost the innocence of joy.
During this festive season therefore dance daily till dawn if you wish, kick your cares away but on thirty-first night when the two hands of the clock come together in prayer pause awhile and remember the brave men and women who gave their lives for us. All they asked for themselves was a plot of land to be buried. Some times even this was denied. Remember too those in the thousands who are maimed and are toughing it out at Walter Reed. For their loved ones Christmas and New Year will never be the same.
ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS..
Today with American soldiers dying all the time in every corner of the earth solving other people's problems and fighting other people's demons we could honestly say there's always some corner of a foreign field that is forever Stars and Stripes.
Some may have come to America on the Mayflower ; some may have been washed ashore on Ellis Island; some fled from the hardship of the potato famine while others from the horrors of the holocaust. Some landed at Kennedy waving a temporary H-1 work visa and stayed on permanently. There also were those who entered the country surreptitiously or overstayed and received the benediction of an amnesty.
You may be black or white or something in between. You may be a flaming bleeding heart liberal from the blue states or a conservative evangelical from the red states. You may be feeling low and in a funk fearful of the pink slip that may greet you tomorrow.
Yet on the fourth of November the collective pulse of this nation quickened to fever pitch and the whole world caught the fever - the excitement of a new beginning, a rebirth, a rejuvenation of the American spirit. With one fell swoop this nation from bullets and bluster and obliterating power became an awe inspiring power of example to the rest of the world. On this day a vast majority of Americans expiated for the sins of past years. A time when this country lost the innocence of joy.
During this festive season therefore dance daily till dawn if you wish, kick your cares away but on thirty-first night when the two hands of the clock come together in prayer pause awhile and remember the brave men and women who gave their lives for us. All they asked for themselves was a plot of land to be buried. Some times even this was denied. Remember too those in the thousands who are maimed and are toughing it out at Walter Reed. For their loved ones Christmas and New Year will never be the same.
ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS..
posted by K.B.Chandra Raj at
11:59 AM
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