I received the following passage in an email recently, which I thought I'd share... and discuss. Please read on...

PERSPECTIVE

You stay up for 16 hours
He stays up for days on end.

You take a warm shower to help you wake up.
He goes days or weeks without running water.

You complain of a 'headache', and call in sick.
He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

You put on your anti war/don't support the troops shirt,
And go meet up with your friends.
He continues to fight for your right to wear that shirt.

You make sure you're cell phone is in your pocket.
He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

You talk trash about your 'buddies' that aren't with you.
He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.
He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

You complain about how hot it is.
He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.
He doesn't get any food today.

Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.
He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

You go to the mall and get your hair redone.
He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.

You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.
He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.

You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.
He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.

You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.
He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.

You roll your eyes as a baby cries.
He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.
He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers Why he is fighting.

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.
He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.

You see only what the media wants you to see.
He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.
He does exactly what he is told even if it puts his life in danger.

You stay at home and watch TV.
He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.

You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.
He tries to sleep but gets woken by mortars and helicopters all night long.

If you support your troops, send this to 5 people. If you don't support your troops well, then don't send this out. You won't die in 7 days, your love life won't be affected, and you won't have the worst day ever. You don't have to email this. It's not like you know the Men and Women that are dying to preserve your rights.

A Prayer

Dear God,
Protect our service men, who fight for the freedom of everyone.
Color, race or religion... Freedom for all… Canadian, American & British Soldiers. Help them Lord, keep them safe and let them come home to their families soon.
In the name of Jesus. Peace. Amen

We've all seen notes such as these... in our email, on blogs, just about everywhere. We read them and carry on with our day, many of us, virtually unaffected. Not many stop to ponder the magnitude of the sacrifice our service people make - sadly, not many of us even care. All we care about is our "freedom" to vote if we want to; our "freedom" to choose whatever career is interesting to us; our "freedom" to stay out all night partying without the threat of a kerfew; our "freedom" to speak our mind - when, where, and how it pleases us; our "freedom" to walk our streets, and yell obscenities to passersby just because they looked at you the wrong way; our "freedom" to choose... anything. We want that freedom, we demand that freedom, but not for a moment do we want to think about who pays for it.

We want a latte at Starbucks - we pay for it. We want food on our tables for dinner - we pay for it. We want clothes on our back - we pay for them. We want running water in our house, we want heat to keep us warm, we want lights and electricity so we can see in the dark - we pay for them all. We want to drive our cars so we pay for gas, after we've paid for the car... and paid for insurance to drive that car. We pay to get into night clubs, we pay to go on vacation, we pay our taxes, we pay for school books, we pay for the newspaper. We pay for everything! Aside from the intangible in our lives, can you think of anything you don't pay for? Exactly! So why, then, do we assume our "freedom" is somewhat of a birth right? It's not... and the fact is, someone has to pay for it. A quick scan of history shows us that from the beginning of time, someone has paid for the freedom of the people. Your freedom.

Do we "like" war? Of course we don't, at least not for those of us with peace in our hearts, but step back from your cozy circle of family and friends and take a look at this planet as it really exists... let's look at the thousands of people you come in contact with, sometimes on a daily basis via commute, internet, etc., and consider all the horrendous crimes, the brutal rapes, the merciless killings, the child abuse, the palpable hatred that you may bear witness to hearing of within your own community, among people within your own society. Many humans do NOT have peace in their hearts. How do we deal with such evil? Rehabilatation? Is that an aswer? Does it work? I don't know... what do you think? If someone exists with such cruelty in their soul, do you believe there is someone, anyone, on this planet weaved of human fabric that can cure or heal them? I don't know... do you?

Let's step back even further, and take a global peek, into the lives of those in countries that don't share the same borders... don't share the same currency, values, class systems, standards of living, language, and whatever other differences that exist. For many, these barriers serve not only as a reinforcement of the different lives we live, but it also makes it very easy for us to distance ourselves from "their" reality. We don't see them, we don't speak with them, we don't know them... they do not affect our lives and we don't affect their's. A true statement? No, a very narrow-minded sentiment that harbors nothing but greed and stagnancy. We are the human race, with all of our varied differences, but we are man and woman. End of story.

When you walk down the street and see injustice... in any of it's forms from bullying, theft, vandalism, racism and the list goes on... do you try to stop it? Does it hurt your heart to see others suffer to the point of trying to make it stop? or do you carry on your merry way with the attitude that it's none of your business? If you don't try to stop the injustice, aren't you glad that someone, somewhere does? The very fact that you do walk down the street, hopefully without incident, is an indication that someone is looking after you.

It's not my desire to get into a conversation about who starts wars... my purpose here is to support those who have taken it upon themselves to protect me. I do not like war. I wish our world comprised of peace-lovers, that war was never ever necessary. The person that I am would not choose to pick up arms and begin killing, but I can assure you that if my son came under threat, I would do all in my power to protect him. Wouldn't you? This is how I view our service people. They are our guardians, they protect us from harm, they fight for our freedom.

Many detractors claim that war never solves anything... that there are other means of resolving conflict. Yes, I agree, to a point, that often, intelligent individuals can successfully use the spoken word to resolve differences, but when we speak in terms of war, are we speaking of one or two intelligent invidiuals?

As I mentioned earlier, let's discuss the level of hatred among us today, and believe me, this hatred knows no bounds. We have people in the grocery store fighting in line, we have road-rage on our streets, we have parents of the pee-wee hockey teams yelling obscenities across the rink, we have our children coming home from school with bruises, and in some places, with bullet holes. Pick any of the thousands of gossip forums and blogs that are flooding the internet on a daily basis... read some of the hatred. We see people threatening others, we see anonymous posters manufacturing such malicious lies about others, we see people destroying other people's lives, just for the sake of entertainment. So I ask you, if we were to cordially invite any of these hate-mongers to discuss their destructive behaviour over a cup of coffee, do you think we'd make any progress? Do you think, all of a sudden, they'd have an attack of conscience and the evilness would stop? You'd probably get the cup of coffee thrown into your face, topped with a few perfectly whipped superlatives. My point is, those with such evil in their heart will most likely NOT stop their behaviour just because someone asked them nicely to do so. If it were that simple, one must wonder why the behaviour existed in the first place. When it comes to the fabric of the human soul, unfortunately, not all of mankind was created equally. You may find it completely acceptable to tell the man in the mall parking lot to fuck off because he took your parking spot (you know, the one with your name painted on it!), while others of us would never dream of doing so, because really, people should always be more important than things.

So if our chances of diminishing evil are so small within the realm of hatred via intelligent conversation, how successful will we be then, when faced with individuals or groups, or sects of people, who have taken that hatred to extreme levels and are actually murdering innocent societies just for the hell of it? Can you even imagine living in such a society where you and your family cannot leave your house for fear of being killed? Think about that for a moment.... no trips to Starbucks, no movie-night at the theater, no shopping mall spree with your friends (oppps, there are no malls!), no freedom at all to do the things you enjoy to do. Living in poverty, not because you are lazy and refuse to work, but because you don't have the freedom to choose your work. For those of you who believe the intelligent conversation route may work in these scenarios, I would invite you to go live in those conditions for oh, say, a week. Aside from your Starbucks withdrawl symptoms, I would hazzard a guess that it wouldn't take very long at all before the uncertainty of continued life would come crashing down very heavily upon you and you would beg to return to your land of freedom. The irony here is that you would feel you have the freedom to choose to return.

In fear of this becoming a novel ;-) I will come to a close. My intention here was not to dissuade anyone from their views on war but to maybe offer another view, and more importantly, to garner respect for those who so justly deserve it - our troops. I'm not suggesting any of you run off to the nearest boot camp and sign your name on the dotted line, because ultimately, had it been in your fate to offer your life in such a way, you would have done so already, but the next time you see a soldier, instead of a disgusted snicker, maybe you could offer a simple thank you. The next time you see a nasty post on the internet aimed towards our service people, rather than adding to the hatred, maybe just walk away, or better yet, respond with care and gratitude. You see, you have the freedom to choose here, and you are allowed that freedom because somewhere, at some time, a soldier chose to sacrifice on your behalf. Your freedom is not free, it requires a very dear price, and it has been with the blood of many of our fallen heroes that the cost of your freedom was paid in full.

Kay O'Hara