From Where I Sit
Fingers poised over the laptop, looking out across the valley at the far bluff and horizon, how can there be any evil in the world? The silent serenity through that large window encompasses all and sweetly softens my senses. The leaves on the trees, regal and tall, stir not a whisper. The sun shines gloriously down on this natural delight of God’s good work. How dare the scenes of blood, fallen bodies, and war drums beating come as unbidden echoes in my mind…if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there, is there still sound? Dear God, I fear it must be so!
A cloud passes and temporarily blots out the precious sun as though validating those unbidden echoes. I force away the ugly thoughts of dying and evil, at least to the periphery of awareness and think what clever inventions of my mind can endure me to my readers.
To my rescue comes George the Bengal cat (his grandmother was an Asian leopard cat). George stoically stares up at me and meows timidly for his noon-time treat – three little chicken-flavored ‘Temptations’. He eats them quickly and wanders over and lies under one of the great room chairs, looking out that same big window that produces nature’s portrait…and I wonder: does he think? If he does think, what is it he thinks about? Those trees he would like to climb – except he has been deprived his front paw claws?
See how easy it is to get away from the troubles of the world? Sort of like playing nine rounds of golf with basketball buddies at Martha’s Vineyard…
Okay, it’s too important, I have to write something! It is all I’m left to do. I’ll start with this excerpt from a Fox News report…
British Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to confront radical Islam “at home and abroad” and the United Kingdom raised its terror level to “severe” in the wake of new revelations about Islamic State’s butchery in Syria and Iraq.
Cameron, speaking from 10 Downing Street, said Britain’s problem with homegrown radical jihadists joining the bloody battle engulfing the Middle East and threatening attacks on the west must be addressed with tough action.
“This is not some foreign conflict thousands of miles away that we can hope to ignore,” the Conservative Party leader said. “The ambition to create an extremist caliphate in the heart of Iraq and Syria is a threat to our own security here in the UK. And that is in addition to the many other Al Qaeda-inspired terrorist groups that exist in that region. The first ISIL terrorist attacks on the continent of Europe have already taken place.”
“We cannot appease this ideology,” the Conservative Party leader said. “We have to confront it at home and abroad. To do this we need a tough, intelligent, patient, comprehensive approach to defeat the terrorist threat at its source.
Cameron’s words came one day after U.S. President Barack Obama said the U.S. is not contemplating imminent action against Islamic State in Syria.
“I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We don’t have a strategy yet,” Obama said Thursday.
No tirade here! It just seems to me we must have a strategy, patient, yes, but aggressive as well.Waiting until the deaths of innocent people mount up, until another extremist caliphate is added to the Islamic empire list, until the wicked warriors and weaponry drift into America, cannot be a sober option.
What is it that I am not getting? These terrorists are cutting off heads, killing infidels, Christians and Jews, vowing to dominate the world. They are criminally rich, recruiting followers all over the world to join them, claiming to ultimately raise their flag at our own US White House. Killing is their culture. It is what they do and have been doing for thousands of years. Why would the US wait until tens of thousands more die before setting goals and objectives? These terrorists want to kill us, and appeasement, rhetoric and diplomacy are not going to solve the problem. The goal is to win the war over terrorists. Losing is not an option!
George is thirteen, old in man-years like me, and he is now napping at my feet…yeah, I know, you’re telling me to take a nap! (And I will, sooner or later.) The sun is still shining and nature’s poetry is just outside my window. Why are the worries of the world out there, too?
I’m just a man who likes to write, a person who tries to keep up with his world… Perception is not always reality, but, from where I sit, that’s the way I see it.
By the way, my new book, A Common Evil, is out…hope you get a chance to read it and review it on amazon.
BUY SITE: http://authl.it/1r2 (Amazon Worldwide)
Billy Ray Chitwood
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