"I think it is important to try to get to know someone before you think about bombing them"
- Rick Steves
I try not to write to much about politics. It is so toxic these days that no matter how gently you attempt to make a point someone is inevitably offended. Such are the days we live in. I have been a conservative my entire life. I used to believe in those principles. I can honestly say I am not anymore. Whether I have reached that point because of travel, getting older, or enlightenment, I cannot say. If nothing else, "The Road to Bali" is a journey of discovery for Colleen and I. And this blog is a way of leaving notes from that journey.
I only know that the world is wide and full of people who yearn for comfort and reassurance. I have seen a different view. I have learned that there are often more mysteries than answers. I have learned that I do not know everything and neither does America. We have much to learn. I have friends that are conservative and liberal. I know people of profound faith and atheists. They all have something to say.
"And once you have seen, you cannot unsee.”
- Rob Bell
So it was today when I was sitting in, of all places, an ophthalmologist's office I came across this poem by a new friend of mine, Mr Philip Gully. Phil continues to disrupt my notions of how the world and God works. I am having lunch with him in a couple of days in which I will collect my arguments to win him to my point of view. I will not win. And that is ok. It was never a contest to begin with.
Regarding the recent drums of war with Iran - Phil wrote this poem -
"My Plan for Stopping War
by Philip Gulley
I start every day with a long bath, for which I make no apologies.
The early bird might get the worm, but who wants a worm? Not me.
So I sit, the water up to my neck, as hot as I can bear,
the window slightly open, no matter the season.
And I think.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about war and how to stop it.
For centuries, soldiers were led into battle by monarchs, until King George II of England reconsidered the practice after fighting the French in The War of Austrian Succession in 1743. The last king on the battlefield survived, but met his end in 1760 when his heart ruptured during a bowel movement, the first monarch to be felled by constipation.
In honor of brave King George II, I propose the following:
Send not the farmers and laborers to fight.
Send not the teacher or the student to kill.
Send not the builders of homes and cars to maim.
Nor the assemblers of IPhones, bicycles, and computers.
Send no one at all who had no say in the matter.
Send instead the CEOs of Raytheon, Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics, not to mention their shareholders.
Send the President, the Vice-President, and all the Cabinet.
Plus those who raised money for their elections.
Send the lobbyists who persuaded members of Congress to spend trillions of dollars on their implements of war, then send Congress.
Send the engineers who designed the bombs, the bullets, and guns, then send the people who made them. While you’re at it, send the members of the NRA, proving true the maxim that those who live by the sword shall die from it.
Send the statisticians who casually calculate the number of deaths we will tolerate. (Foreign deaths not included, of course, for what does is matter if 500,000 Iraqis are blown to bits.)
Send the flag-wavers, who never met a war they didn’t like.
Send the Christians, who boldly declare God is on our side. Let them put their faith to the test.
Should the war persist, send those who rail against the peacemakers and call them communists or socialists or liberals.
Send anyone over 55 who believes war is a noble undertaking for people under 25.
Follow my plan to the letter, and watch war come to a slamming halt.
Listen as presidents and Congress wax eloquently about the imperative of peace.
Watch the CEOs of Raytheon, Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics take up farming or fishing or shuffleboard.
See their shareholders rush to invest in affordable housing, mass transit, green energy, and household appliances, which desperately need improving.
Watch the engineers and statisticians halt their grim sciences and figure out how to double food production.
Observe the NRA take a sudden interest in the unfettered production of dolls, Lincoln Logs, and Legos.
Watch as the flag-wavers and Christians suddenly champion global harmony, religious tolerance, and open borders.
This is my plan. Tomorrow morning I will take another bath and think some more."
Do you see how annoying Phil can be?
Bless him for it.
To know a little more here is Rick Steve's visit to Iran -
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