I AM SAD TODAY. SAD FOR ALL THE LIVES LOST - FOR WHAT? YES I KNOW THAT SOME WARS ARE JUST. THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF THEM. BUT MANY IN OUR DAYS HAVE NOT BEEN.

SAD FOR THE LIVES THAT HAVE BEEN RUINED. FOR OUR SOLDIERS WHO HAVE RETURNED WITH LIMBS MISSING, WITH PTSD, AND THOSE WITH DRUG ADDICTION, AND WITH OTHER PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL AILMENTS. DRUGS THAT WERE FORCED ON THEM. FOR THE WIVES WHO HAVE LOST THEIR HUSBANDS, MOTHERS AND FATHERS LOST THEIR CHILDREN.

ALL THIS IS TOUTED AS HEROIC. I HAVE NO DOUBT THERE WERE HEROES AND STILL ARE HEROES IN OUR MIDST.

ALL TOO OFTEN THE GRIEF IS BURIED IN PICNICS, BBQ, AND FESTIVITIES. THOSE WHO HAVE NOT HAD A LOVED ONE AFFECTED BY A WAR ARE, FOR THE MOST PART, OBLIVIOUSLY WISHING ONE ANOTHER A HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, WHEN IT REALLY IS A SOLEMN OCCASION.

MY UNCLE WAS IN HITLER'S ARMY, AND DIED IN THE WAR. HIS NAME WAS HEINZ, AND I KNOW PRACTICALLY NOTHING ABOUT HIM OTHER THAN THAT HE WAS MY DAD'S BROTHER. WHAT HAPPENED WAS NEVER TALKED ABOUT, AT LEAST NOT IN MY PRESENCE.
I GREW UP YEARS AFTER THE WAR, AND SAW WHAT LASTING EFFECTS IT HAS ON PEOPLE'S PSYCHE.
MY GRANDPARENTS AND PARENTS LIVED IN THE SAME HOUSE. ONE DAY I FOUND MY GRANDMOTHER CRYING. I ASKED HER WHY, AND TO THIS DAY REMEMBER HER RESPONSE, "YOU WOULD CRY, TOO, IF YOUR SON DIED IN THE WAR." I WAS VERY SMALL AT THE TIME, AND IT MAY HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TIME I FOUND OUT THAT THERE WAS AN UNCLE WHO DIED IN THE WAR. I WAS TOO YOUNG TO RESPOND, TO SAY ANYTHING, AND AS FAR AS I REMEMBER JUST WALKED AWAY, SHAKEN.

THINK ABOUT IT, THIS WAS YEARS AFTER THE WAR AND MY GRANDMOTHER WAS UNABLE TO SAY, "I AM SAD, I AM GRIEVING!" HER EMOTIONS HAD BECOME STUNTED, AS WERE MY PARENTS'. AS FAR AS I CAN REMEMBER, I DID NOT MEET FAMILIES IN MY HOME TOWN THAT WERE EMOTIONALLY WHOLE. THE MEN TENDED TO BE ANGRY AND RAISED THEIR VOICES, AS DID MY FATHER. SOME WERE PHYSICALLY VIOLENT AT HOME, MY DAD WAS NOT. HE JUST YELLED A LOT AND WE TIPTOED AROUND HIM. I KNOW HE HAD TENDER EMOTIONS, BUT THEY WERE ALL BURIED. I DID NOT EVEN REALIZE THAT - UNTIL AT THE FRANKFURT AIRPORT I SAID GOOD BYE, LEAVING FOR THE UNITED STATES. AT THAT POINT I SAW A COUPLE OF TEARS ON HIS FACE. SOMETHING I HAD NOT SEEN PREVIOUSLY, EMOTIONS HE HAD HIDDEN.

THOSE WHO PLAY VIDEO WAR GAMES DO NOT REALIZE WHAT WAR IS. HOW PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DUPED BY ENTERTAINMENT! I FEAR ONE DAY SOON THERE WILL BE A RUDE AWAKENING OF THE POPULATION TO THE REALITY OF WAR AND LOSS. AND MOST WILL NOT KNOW HOW TO HANDLE IT. AND HOW COULD ANY OF US, WITHOUT JESUS AND HIS GRACE AND HOPE IN OUR LIVES?

B.

May 28, 2018