Dad loved to tell jokes to us kids: “Have you ever heard the one about the airplane? Never mind, it’s over your head.” -George W. Bush
We were in the early years of a long struggle.
Our way of life, our very freedom, had come under attack.
Who did this?
The group held extremist views and considered it their duty to kill
anyone who stood in their way.
I heard people yelling my name.
I looked at the faces of all the children in front of me.
I was determined not to let them down.
I had an obligation to do what was necessary to protect the country.
I pressed for action.
I was not looking for a career.
I had been praying that God would show me how to better reflect
His will.
***
I was drinking routinely, with an occasional bender thrown in.
I can get carried away.
I was apalled by the way the ideas that inspired the Revolution
were cast aside when all power was concentrated in the hands
of a few.
I felt powerless to help them.
Who am I, that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites
out of Egypt?
I looked out on an abandoned, locked down Washington.
I was so amazed to see how a country with such a rich history
could be so bleak.
Had I ordered the death of those innocent Americans?
I fought back tears.
I was troubled by the fact that there was no apparent way forward.
I had a philosophy I wanted to advance.
Was I willing to forgo my anonymity forever?
I took a look at the list of techniques.
***
My blood was boiling.
I have a message to you, and to all who serve our country.
We would do more than put a million-dollar missile on
a five-dollar tent.
I knew a war would bring death and sorrow.
I thought of the lyrics from one of my favorite hymns, “God of
Grace and God of Glory.”
I felt the plane bank hard to the west.
There would be time later to mourn.
I hugged the flight attendants and told them it would be okay.
***