My two bits

I've been thinking about this since these pictures were taken, which was not too long after the election.  There is a retirement village here that puts on a Veteran's Day program every year, and since they don't have a facility big enough, they use our church building.  Our scout troop was asked to do the flag ceremony, so here is Nate and Tanner carrying the flags.

 

 

 

(Nate, Mark, Tanner)

 

(Getting instructions from our favorite scout leader)

 

 

We were there early so the boys could practice, and I got to sit and watch about 200 people slowly walk in.  I watched the uniformed men, old men who once wore that same uniform as a strong, young soldier who fought bravely for a country that was worth fighting for.  I wonder what they've seen over the years. I wonder if they have shed tears watching what their beloved country has become.  These soldiers who are now watching from the sidelines in their aged bodies, feeling helpless as the American dream - THEIR American dream - has all but been shattered. 

It is a stark contrast as my eyes moved from them to my boys, my sweet boys in THEIR uniforms, their whole lives ahead of them.  Do they dare dream as these soldiers once did as youth?  What will be waiting out there for them?  Has the spark of the American dream been lost in over-educated college grads in unemployment lines or living in their parent's basements? In millions of foreclosed homes? In welfare checks sent to people not willing to work, but have i-phones? In a country that rejected an honest, hard working, righteous man, and instead elected a man that clearly has his own agenda that's not in our best interest?

I'm not going to tell my boys that the American dream is dead, too many people are going to do that for them.  God help us.

That's all.