Posted in What I am Reading
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Started reading Standing for Something
yesterday. I'll probably be reading this for only about 10
minutes a day, so it will be slow going, even though it isn't a very
big book. I am really enjoying the book, so far, even though I'm
only at the introduction, and I am looking forward to reading more. Perhaps I'll reach a point where I just can't put it down, but for now I'm committing to reading for at least 10 minutes in the morning, after my walk. This excerpt I am sharing today brought me close to that point of not being able to put the book down, (I just have so darned much else to do today that I can't let myself sit and just read). Anyway, here is the section that stuck with me today: "My wife and I visited Jerusalem long ago, before the 1967 war. It was then a divided city. We retained the services of a guide who was an Arab, and, during our tour, we stood on an elevation where we could see the other side of Jerusalem. With tears in his eyes, this man pointed to the home from which he had been dispossessed. And then he said with deep emotion, 'You belong to the greatest nation on the face of the earth. Yours is the only nation that has been victorious in war and never claimed any territory as a prize of conquest. Your people have given millions, even billions, to the poor of the earth and never asked for anything in return. Rather, even after coming off as conqueror, you have poured yet other billions to revive those who had been your enemies in bloody conflict.' "I had never thought of this significant perspective before. In no instance during my lifetime -- not in the First World War or the Second, not in the Korean War or Vietnam or the Persian Gulf -- did our nation seize and hold territory for itself as a prize of conquest. To the crontrary: On a train from Fukuoka, on the south island of Japan, to Tokyo, I have passed mile upon mile of great, modern steel mills built largely with money from the United states following the devastation of Japan. Now the Japanese are our tremendous competitors in the markets of the world. not only did we not seize territory at the end of World War II, but we provided the impetus that has led to their superiority in many business enterprises. Surely there is no story like this in all of recorded history!" That is when all the kids came bounding out of the church -- it was time to leave. So I had to stop right there, but it got me to thinking how much that view of our nation by the world has changed. Just the other day I read something in the media where we were being accused by another nation of having an agenda to 'build an empire'. I was shocked to read that, because it was news to me! Here I thought we were still trying to serve and help other countries, but we certainly aren't being percieved in that way by much of the world today. It saddens me, but I think there has to be a way to turn it around...and it may well start very close to home -- with me. So yes, I'm looking forward to reading more, to see what the author describes as the '10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes'.... |
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