My Christmas Wish

This was a letter to a best friend, a soldier serving in Baghdad...

I'm thinking tonight how grateful I am that you and so many others
are willing to sacrifice so much. We're sitting home, fat, lazy, safe (or
at least relatively safe in this neighborhood!), trying to get the spirit
of Christmas in our hum drum little lives. We seem almost oblivious
to the fact that you're over there, a million miles from home, family,
loved ones, in the valiant struggle for freedom.

We think we have it rough here. Financial troubles, traffic jams,
angry bosses, pesky neighbors, the occasional sound of a gunshot
from somewhere else. You're seeing the other side of life first-hand.
How different it would be here if it weren't for you who have either
put your lives at risk or given them up entirely to ensure our safety.
Someone asked, where are Bat Man, Superman and the other super
heroes when we need them? Well, we don't need them when we
have you! The men and women of the armed forces. You are the
real heroes. We owe you a debt we could never repay. And the way
we act sometimes, I hope we're worth it.

We whine and complain. We distort the truth to fit our political slant.
We are quick to point a finger at others and slow to take
responsibility, unless it makes us look good. We are a breeding
ground for laws, lawsuits and lawbreaking. We remove God from our
lives and then blame Him for our problems. We are a country of
greedy, selfish, pompous asses. At first glance, it might seem better
if God would just wipe the country clean and start over.

But we are also a country of hard workers. Of people who dream, and
sometimes fulfill those dreams. We were founded on principles of
faith, and most still cling to those standards. We are a society of
freedom. Free to speak our mind. Free to move about. Free to
worship. Free to help our neighbor. Free to reach our highest
potential or wallow in the lowest depths And we owe those freedoms,
in large part, to you... in Baghdad, and around the world.

My Christmas wish for you is that God will reward you generously for
your efforts. That He will keep you safe and bring you home soon.
That your families will be provided for well in your absence. That
loneliness will be replaced with comfort. That He will guide you in your
activities. That you will continue to do your best and act honorably.
That your work will help to bring peace to a troubled world and keep
our nation free. And that we will be more deserving of your service
and sacrifice.

Merry Christmas (Written 12/25/03)