Posted: Wednesday, 30 December 2009 10:27AM
I Hope It's A Good One
Steve Corbett Reporting
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Linda from Hanover called “Corbett” Monday and sobbed into the telephone over the war.
Actually she cried about two wars.
A 60-year-old grandmother with a grandson in Afghanistan and a nephew headed to Iraq, she worried about them getting killed by mad bombers and others intent on fighting for God and country with the same furious zeal that drives Americans to fight for God and country.
In the end, we can only try to save ourselves.
And salvation is always easier said than done.
As I tried to reassure Linda, I my mind misfired and I stammered into the microphone because I didn’t want to lie to her. I didn’t want to tell her that everything will be all right because everything might not be all right.
Linda’s grandson might die in Afghanistan.
Linda’s nephew might die in Iraq.
Both young men might die in the service of their country.
What will Linda do if our wars’ angel of death visits her family?
What will the rest of us do?
What will America do?
Amid tense questions of mortality that loom high on the horizon of hope, change and despair, we realize that another year’s over and a new one will soon begin.
I hope it’s a good one.
I played a lot of John Lennon after commercial breaks on the show Monday. I leaned into the microphone and repeated time and again the magic slogan that John and his wife Yoko Ono sang as a mantra to save the world.
“War is over,” I repeated over and over. “If you want it.”
I want it.
Linda wants it.
But I’m not sure about the rest of us.
I want both wars to end. I want liberty for all without the death of countless people who deserve life and laughter. I want harmony and the pursuit of happiness. I want love.
But I don’t expect the world to find redemption of the spirit anytime soon. My dismal expectation is all the more reason for people to work for peace, justice and equality among the warring tribes of the world.
Our global mission is somber.
And it must start from within, from deep inside each of us who care about the planet and the life that makes us what we are in the universe.
So as I spoke to my sad caller on Monday, I tried my best to stay calm and find the right words to soothe Linda as her cries echoed in my head. I spoke softly and told her that our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family as they struggle through the hard times of war. I didn’t know what else to do.
Paul from Kingston had called earlier to say that his time as a soldier in Iraq had made him believe all the more in the mission of the war. He and I disagree on policy but respect each other as solitary searchers trying to find the way in and the way out of the darkness.
I’m not sure we’re going to make it to the light.
But I want to help us try.
Bright rays of peace for warmongers and peace freaks alike will only occur if we flip a common switch that ignites the fires of respect the lie dormant in the common consciousness of us all. In one way or another, everyone craves respect. Everyone deserves respect. Even the worst among us is good enough to be treated with consideration for the individual qualities that makes each person unique.
Such regard might breed dignity that one day might mature into peace. We can fight and die forever. We might never silence the guns of war. But war can end – if we want war to end.
Linda from Hanover and Paul from Kingston are two people who share common experience from different ends of a grisly political spectrum. Yet they are united by the common thread of experience that makes them neighbors in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Let’s try harder to be good neighbors – here and there around the world.
Happy New Year – if you want it.
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