Caught in Between the Sun and the Moon and the Stars...

Last night on NPR radio I heard a show where they interviewed 5 brothers from the same family who grew up in the 50's and 60's. Three of them ended up going to Vietnam with one returning very injured, one brother joined the Navy and ended up with NATO in Belfast during the early 70's and the last brother ended up being a teacher. What was most interesting is that although they described themselves as conservative, they stated that they would not vote for Emperor Bush or for that matter anyone from the Republican party. They noted that even as Vietnam was started by a contrived lie called the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, they felt that Bush had invaded Iraq on false pretenses. Just as Vietnam turned into a quagmire so the war in Iraq has become.

Returning from Vietnam they actually felt that it was a very positive reflection on the United States that people could walk the streets protesting the war in Vietnam. Unfortunately the transference of disgust for the war onto the soldiers was unwarranted. They hope the same does not occur for the soldiers in Iraq. They noted how the vehemence and outcry needs to directed to those who are actually responsible for dictating the policies and decisions that end up embroiling us in conflicts. Namely the politicians. I would at this point like to mention that I not only blame Bush and the Republicans for the war, but I also believe the Democrats are just as culpable. And what about us? Have we been to quiet? Have we not yelled enough? Have we not protested? Personally I have written to my representatives as well as President Bush decrying the fiasco in Iraq that is placing our sons and daughters, our mothers and fathers in the middle of a civil war between three tribes.

Does this make me unpatriotic? I sure as hell don't believe so. The practice of free speech and opinion is one of the hallmarks of our society. As of yet Mr. Bush has not managed to take those away from us. The Gilchrist brothers themselves feel this war is unjust and feel much the same way I do. Three of them served in Nam and one almost died there. They all know the words to God Bless America. They all vote. One is a congressman. Would you say they are unpatriotic? I sure would not.

The one thing the brothers stressed was communication and learning. America does not seem on a whole motivated to communicate and learn with other cultures or on working to resolving conflict in a peaceful way. Wouldn't Jesus Christ do that in conflict situations? Mr. Bush? Speaking of which...Mr. Bush has managed to make Christianity look as ugly to the rest of the world much the same as Mr. Bin Laden has made Islam look to America.

Much has been made of Barack Obama's statement the other night that he would communicate with despots and others in the world. What's the matter with talking? He didn't say anything about compromise did he? He didn't say anything about being in agreement with Syria's, Colombia's, or for that matter Israel's policies did he?

I would say that there is a lot of room for talking and very little for armed conflict. After all...when have words killed our soldiers?

God Bless Us All,
Rod

I have been doing a lot of reading lately about the historical basis of the Quran and Muhammed. It is interesting to see how modern day clerics and people in general have managed to interpret the Quran to their own viewpoint. The fact that Muhammed was primarily a pacifist and only believed in fighting in order to defend oneself seems to have been forgotten by this vocal minority. In much the same way as Christian fundamentalists seem to speak for all of Christianity, many people seem to think al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden speak for all of Islam. Here is a good description of exactly what a "Jihad" should avoid as presented by Reza Aslan in "No god but God";

'  The doctrine of jihad, as it slowly developed in the Quran, was specifically meant to differentiate between pre-Islamic and Islamic notions of warfare, and to infuse the latter with what Mustansir Mir calls an "ideological-cum-ethical dimension" that, until that point, did not exist in the Arabian Peninsula. At the heart of the doctrine of jihad was the heretofore unrecognized distinction between combatant and noncombant. Thus, the killing of women, children, monks, rabbis, the elderly, or any other noncombatant was absolutely forbidden under any circumstances. Muslim law eventually expanded on these prohibitions to outlaw the torture of prisoners of war; the mutilation of the dead; rape, molestation, or any kind of sexual violence during combat; the killing of diplomats, the wanton destruction of property, and the demolition of religious or medical institutions - regulations that, as Hilmi Zawati has observer, were all eventually incorporated into the modern international laws of war. ' p.84

Just one of my all time favorites... (Love is all we've got)

Somewhere in the distance I hear the bells ring
Darkness settles on the town as the children start to sing
And the lady across the street, she shuts out the night
A cast of thousands waiting as she turns out the light

But it's too late, too late, too late
Too late for love
Too late, too late, too late

London boys are gazing, the girls go hand in hand
A pocket full of innocence, the entrance is grand
The queen of the dream stands before them all
She stretches out her hand as the curtain starts to fall

But it's too late, too late, too late
Too late for love
Too late, too late, it's too late
Too late

Standing by the trap door, aware of me and you
The actor and the clown, they're waiting for their cue
And there's a lady over there, she's acting pretty cool
But when it comes to playing life, she always plays the fool

But it's too late, too late, it's too late
Too late to love
Too late, too late, it's too late
Too late

Is it all too late?
Much too late
Can't you see it's all too late

Yea! It's too late

Too late, too late, too late
Too late for love
Too late, too late, too late
Too late
But it's all we got

On December 27th I went out to the coast of Washington. Specifically out on the northwest coast by Neah Bay. While enjoying the cold and brisk weather I managed to fall off of a rather big rock onto some other rocks...about 30 feet worth of falling. For the first time in all my years of hiking and climbing I finally got myself injured. I pretty much shattered my right wrist and right ankle with the tibia sticking out of the bottom of my foot. I was there for about one hour with 2 medic teams working on me and then they lifted me out with a cage and transported me to the Neah Bay "Hospital" which is more like a clinic. Here I waited another hour while the doc there did what he could. Then our great U.S. Coast Guard came and picked me up by helicopter and we flew to Harborview Hospital in Seattle which is The place to go for trauma injuries here. That took another hour. At the hospital they worked on my leg for 7 hours and got it pretty much back together with screws and metal plates.

The recovery has been hellishly long for someone who hasn't managed to sit still for more than 10 minutes at a time for most of his life. I spent one month pretty much on my back, another two months in a wheelchair, then crutches, and now a cane. I was hoping to be pretty much back to normal this summer but it looks more like this fall now. My next climb of Mt. Rainier will have to wait until next year.

I have had to learn a lot through this experience. My family and friends have been the best and far better than I deserve. I had to learn to let other people do things for me. My appreciation for those who work in Rescue and Hospitals has went off of the chart. (Lord knows I probably was not one of the best patients they ever had!!) I have also learned what God really means when he says to "Be still and know that I am the Lord." Best of all I seem to have regained patience which I seemed to have lost over the years. I am glad to be back at work and getting pretty mobile once again. It's also nice to get back on here and share. Sorry it took a while...I guess I just wanted to make sure I shared what's really important.

What's important? U2 has a great song and one of the lines is "It's a Beautiful Day, Don't let it get away." Everyday is a beautiful day...don't let it get away.

God bless all of you,
Rod