Pacific Views

Remembering the Dead

The Parable of The Old Man and The Young
-- by Wilfred Owen

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned, both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake, and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets the trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.

But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

Indeed....But the stubborn man would not so, but slew our troops,
And half the seed of Iraq, one by one.

2000 American soldiers have died in Iraq. They are joined by the tens of thousands, indeed, the hundred thousands of Iraqi civilians who are paying for the lack of planning, the lack of understanding of human nature, and the hubris of believing that they, the true believers in our government, could create a utopia using the coarse tools of war. May God forgive us all.

Posted by Mary at October 25, 2005 10:26 PM | War on Terrorism | Technorati links |