Horses & Veterans of War

I’ll admit, I don’t know too many veterans. My Grandfather was one, a WWII vet, but he didn’t really talk about it. We only realized from a letter from one of his friends to my grandfather after his death that he had been a real hero.

My world has always been all about horses. I live in a country were I can live free and hang out with horses and my gender and religion doesn’t affect that a bit. You can’t say that of everywhere. You can say though, that our veterans, for better or worse, are ambassadors to the world. Sometimes I imagine all they rest of the world knows us by is Hollywood and that is a scary thought!

But so many of these people come home scarred, and our nation does far too little to support them on return. Physical after effects are one thing. But the psychological ones are worse.

“I said, ‘I have heard people talk about war as if it was a very fine thing.’ [Black Beauty]

 

Ah!’ said [Captain], ‘I should think they never saw it. No doubt it is very fine when there is no enemy, when it is just exercise and parade, and sham-fight. Yes, it is very fine then; but when thousands of good brave men and horses are killed, or crippled for life, it has a very different look.’
Do you know what they fought about?’ said I.
No,’ he said, ‘that is more than a horse can understand, but the enemy must have been awfully wicked people, if it was right to go all that way over the sea on purpose to kill them.”
― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

And I know for sure, if there is one thing horses excel at, it’s therapy. It doesn’t have to be a program with ‘therapy’ in the name. Just being around a horse is therapy. It’s difficult to keep your mind on your own problems when you have a soft friend to brush, who never judges what you say to them, who lets you take a ride and exercise but still needs care and watching less they ignorantly plant a hoof on your foot.

There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”
~Winston Churchill

Or, I would add, a woman.

Here is a sample list I found of LOTS of place involving horses and the military (as of 5/24/2014):

It just makes sense really, that horses should be there for the aftermath of mankinds traumatic battles. For many centuries they were there through them. From General Sheridan’s Winchester to Sgt. Reckless, horses, for better or worse has shared humanities battles. It only makes sense they would also share in the healing.

“This one isn’t just any old horse. There’s a nobility in his eye, a regal serenity about him. Does he not personify all that men try to be and never can be? I tell you, my friend, there’s divinity in a horse, and specially in a horse like this. God got it right the day he created them. And to find a horse like this in the middle of this filthy abomination of a war, is for me like finding a butterfly on a dung heap. We don’t belong in the same universe as a creature like this.”
― Michael Morpurgo, War Horse

May you, your family and all the veterans have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.

The Christmas Lament

Appreciating Grief

When considering the tragedy of murdered children, it occurs to me there are other murdered children, unnamed, that must not be forgotten.

The Last Arrivals at Christmas:  According to Matthew 2: 1-18:
We tend to lump Mary, Jesus and Joseph in Bethlehem with no roof in the inn, shepherds, and wise men all together at Christmas. In reality the wise men arrived later. And they naturally, following the star, stopped first where you would expect to find a new King. They stopped in the palace. Now old Herod, he didn’t have to act surprised but he did hide his alarm and play nice and help find where this prophesied King was to arrive. He sent the wise men on their way.

Now whether it was just the dream that warned them, or whether they heard things about Herod en route to the babe, but they really were wise enough to see he didn’t want them to tell them where that baby was so he could worship. He wanted to kill that innocent child. So, being wise, they blew out of there on their four footed ride’s in the opposite direction.

Matthew 2:1-18
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men

Did God warn anyone else?

Did anyone else heed the warning? Or wake up and think “Oh, bad dream” and roll over and go back to sleep?  What about the soldiers given the order? Did they hesitate, reminded of their own children or siblings?  Did any find themselves alone, with a brief moment of decision when they uncovered a mother cowering with a baby boy and take the opportunity to make a shush motion and hide them again?  How did these men live with themselves afterward? What hatred this must’ve instilled in the survivor’s and their older children – scarred for life by such evil.

Sadly, Herod needed no rapid fire weapons to pull off the atrocity, he only needed soldiers and a position of power.

Some who argue the Bible is false will say that if this truly happened more evidence would’ve been uncovered. But apparently, evidence that Herod was wicked enough to perform these kind of things was common. It’s only news if it rarely happens.

This is where appreciating grief comes in.

It is definitely true to say history is full of children sold into slavery, murdered and sacrificed to idols. Such things do slip under the radar today. But when they rise to our attention, we tend to act, floundering at times and unsure what to do, but we don’t ignore it.  We rage. We cry. We wonder why. So perhaps we should appreciate our grief. For once upon a time it was only the mother’s of Rama who wept for the children. Now we all do. We no longer consider it normal, or the cost of normal kingdoms and rulers, of soldiers and politics. We no longer consider acceptable or unchangeable and hide under the bed and hope we are overlooked.

After a horrific tragedy and mass shooting, lots of people start battling it out about gun control. In point of fact, it’s safe to say what little the Founding Father’s put into the Constitution and Bill of Rights, was based on weapons without modern capability of fast reloads and massive destruction of auto fire. They couldn’t imagine a database of criminals who would misuse the weapons, so how could they plan whether to sell a gun based on it’s information?  It’s also safe to say they weren’t perfect or there would’ve been no civil war later to end slavery, it would’ve happened right then.

I don’t claim to know what will make us safer. Better gun control for automatic weapons, keeping them out of criminals hands, better mental health care. But I know we must care, that the Herod’s of the world should shudder. For no longer do we stand by and accept the norm. One thing we should do is remember that while gun control is an issue debated in our borders, there our other children in the world’s danger zones too.  And we shouldn’t let issues like political red tape or economy prevent us for caring. For once upon a time, Jesus was one of those children too. So was Einstein, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Madame Curie, Charles Dickens, Billy Graham,…..a world of unknown potential waiting to be uncovered. It shouldn’t be stopped by bullet, sword or a rock to the head.

As for where was God?

He was in the Principle challenging the gunman and every other adult in that school who defended and hid the children. He was with every policeman and fireman who runs into the line of fire, whether little or figurative to defend them. He was with children around the world, urging their protection. He was with every soldier who hesitates at the sight of a child and tries to defend his troops and his country without harming the innocent.

In other words…. He’s probably asking where are we. Because you don’t need to be a preacher or a pastor, just a believer whose read about Jesus, to know that he called on us to do the defending. He gave us power to care and pray and act.  And I believe the power has already succeeded in changing us partway. Because now, instead of just crying for the few children in our family or neighborhood we find it in our hearts to cry for them all.

I Care Teddy Bear
I Care Teddy Bear

References:

Principle trying to stop Gunman when Killed – Regarding the recent events in Conneticut

Fair Trade Policy for Chocolate – Did you know slave labor is used in making some chocolate?

Save the Children – Dedicated to the welfare of children around the world.

Prostitution of Children – Wiki of the facts. But there are lots of articles and blogs on the subject around the world. Just Google it.