an old writer and his words

  • I DIDN’T DIE

    I can tell you why Idid not die in Vietnam, sincethat was my war, yours aremuch newer and still remembered.I didn’t die becauseI enlisted and was not draftedso I got to choose and pickedthe Air Force, which reducedthe odds of dying significantly.They would have been higherif I were an officer, but thatwould have required a…

    Lou Faber

  • OUT OF REACH

    The Middle East continues to melt downlike an out of control nuclear pileleaving destruction and crushed dreamsscattered about the vast sandscape.I imagine God watching from highup in the heavenly grandstandknowing that so many others are nothere to see the race, only to wait forwhat they hope is the inevitable crash.Once He liked looking on Jerusalemwatching…

    Lou Faber

  • CHANGING TIMES

    The real problem with prophecy,at least of the Biblical sort, is thatit has failed to keep up with ourever changing, mutating times. We no longer tend to use spearsin much of the world, and the callfor pruning hooks has diminishedto the point few know what they are. And thanks to John Deere and allof the…

    Lou Faber

  • TOTTERING

    The world did not collapse today,although it tottered on the edge againas it does most days in recent memory.As a child we expected the world might endunless we hid under our deskswhen the alarms went off, so littledid we know about nuclear weaponsand what could be more uselessthan a desk at or near ground zero.We…

    Lou Faber

  • MOVING WALL

    She walks slowly pastthe three bronze menslumped wearily one against the others,and shuffled haltingly towardthe Wall where, at the sixth panel,she stooped and placed the small plastic poppyin the trough that cut along the base of the marble.Eyes squeezed closedshe reached up and tracedthe etched lettersseeking warmth from the cold stoneand felt its coarseness, likehis…

    Lou Faber

  • ALWAYS

    There were always morequestions than answers.There were always morewrongs than rights.There were always morehungry ones than food.There was always moreanger than compassion.There were always moredays of war than days of peace.There were always moreself-righteous than righteous.There were always morepeople than this planetneeded or could support.

    Lou Faber

  • MARCHING

    We walkedfor hours a daywe walked goingnowhere exactlythey wantedmarchingwe walked never quitein stepdespite Sarge’scursed entreaties.By the endof the fifth weekwe marchedin stepmostly.Sarge foundother thingsto curse“you will NEVERbe soldiers” he saidWe are inthe Air Forcewe thoughtnever meantto be soldiers.

    Lou Faber

  • YOUR TURN

    They said that we onlywanted to tear things down, thingsthat they treasured, wanted to maintain.That was only half true, becausewe knew that to build whatwas needed, you had to tear downwhat was there that would not,could not, be integrated.We did tear down someof those things they valued,but we built things that werebetter for the majority…

    Lou Faber

  • GENESIS

    Every time I see a doveI look twice to seeif by chance it has an olive branch,actually any branch, claspedin its claws, for that would meanthe storm of the last years,the wars, the abject poverty,the amassing of wealthfor its own sake at the neverending expense of others,was coming to an end,that the peace we all…

    Lou Faber

  • A BRAVE NEW WORLD

    It is now easy to imagine a worldwhere dystopia lies in waitingaround every corner, always outof sight, always ready to pounce.Now imagine a world, this worldif in 1492 it was a woman whodiscovered this land, and womenwho made all of the decisions.Men could still go to war, but onlyif women decided the war was warranted.It…

    Lou Faber