A VARIETY OF WARS

                                          A VARIETY OF WARS

     One night on the flight home from Houston where my husband Steve had tests at MD Anderson, we were privileged to be on the airplane with the body of an American soldier. The color guard was on the plane with us also.
     Upon landing in Tulsa, everyone on the plane sat in silence as the color guards exited the plane, removed the casket from the cargo, marched in silence and respect as they ushered the heroic body into the presence of the waiting family sitting in cars who were accompanied by police cars with flashing lights, an ambulance with flashing lights, and a hearse.
     After the awesome happening took place, the passengers on the plane exited the plane in silence and respect. All of this happened in the dark of night with only the flashing lights of the vehicles and the lights of the plane. What a wonderful experience to be a part of. However, it reaffirmed to me the horrors of war, that death is always a result of it, and families on both sides of the battle are changed forever.
     Steve had a melancholy reaction because it brought back to him all remembrances of the death of his brother Morris during World War II. His mother never got over it because Morris' body was buried in France. His mother never forgave the Germans for killing her son. When Steve sees visual events like this, he still hears the deep, gut wrenching wails of his mother from her room for days and days after receiving the news that Morris had been killed. Yes, he gave his life for his country so that others might be free, but his mother was never free of the grief.
     Then I realized that all the people we saw in Houston at MD Anderson are fighting their own wars, battles against cancer. They have loved ones and friends who are standing by them in support and prayers, just like the soldier did. Some of them will eventually succumb to the demon of cancer just like the soldier had to yield to death by the demon of war.
     They are all heroes in my eyes, the soldier in uniform in the casket and the brave soldiers fighting cancer evidenced by their bald heads, oxygen tanks, masked mouths and noses, gloved hands, wheel chairs, chemo poles and frail bodies. They are all heroes to me.
     GOD, PLEASE FREE US FROM THE EFFECTS OF ALL WARS, the wars for power by countries and the wars instigated by all diseases.
     HEY, HE DID. AND THAT'S THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTIANITY, THAT HE SENT HIS SON INTO THE EARTH SO THAT HE MIGHT THEN SEND HIS POWER INTO THE EARTH IN THE PERSON OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT to heal diseases, to bring peace to all men, to comfort the broken hearted and to set the captives of addictions free. If we would only yield ourselves to His power we would end all the devastation.
     We've dropped the ball; God hasn't.