Tag Archives: 1980

Asylum

Asylum: (n) the protection granted by a nation to someone who has left their native country as a political refugee.dictionary with letter A

I suppose I could wax eloquent discussing asylum from the aspect of international dealings–the compassion offered to those who find themselves alienated or refugees.

But I think we spend too much time talking about things we don’t understand instead of understanding the things we talk about because they’re real in our lives.

I was once offered asylum–in the truest sense.

Back in 1980 my son was hit and run by a car and spent two-and-a-half months in the hospital with a brain injury, finally being released into our care–a child without the capacity for communication and with no ability to care for himself.

We became caregivers.

I would like to tell you that we adapted with great haste to this role, but I would be a horrible liar.

We were young, selfish, wounded, frustrated and way out of our element. The last thing in the world we needed was to be impinged upon by public opinion telling us what we needed to do or scrutinizing us for excellence.

Fortunately, I was surrounded by people of compassion and insight, who realized I was not going to be able to perform my duties and continue to work a job as an assistant minister at their church, but instead, needed a season to learn my new function–taking care of my wounded son and trying to find a way to adjust my spirit to the pain.

They gave me asylum.

For three months I was granted free rent, free board and freedom to be slow in the uptake.

I don’t know why they did this. I’m sure they were tempted to be self-righteous or even demanding.

But they chose to be loving.

I needed every one of those 90 days. And at the end of them, even the bizarre action of maintaining the needs of a helpless child fell into a logical routine.

I was able to rise to the occasion, and my whole family moved on to the next occupation without too much bruising or poverty.

I have thought about it many times. Matter of fact, I’ve used it as a motivation to grant the same asylum to other wounded travelers who have come my way.

The truth is, it is difficult to heal and be responsible at the same time. Something has to give.

More often than not, someone has to give.

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Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix

Afghanistan

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Afghanistan: a mountainous, landlocked republic in central Asia, pop. 16,600,000. Capital, Kabul; official languages, Pashto and Dari

We were enraged. (Well, at least involved in an aggressive pout.)

When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1980, the US took a stand against such aggression, and even boycotted the Olympics in Moscow to express our displeasure.

Equally displeased with the invasion were the Afghans.

But what the Soviet Union did not understand, with all of its blustering bombing and Bolshevism, is that the people of Afghanistan are very adept at being invaded and repelling all would-be conquorers with both resolve and their terrain–which is extremely unfriendly to foreigners.

So candidly, when the United States came up with the notion of invading Afghanistan following the 9/11 tragedy, I was a bit startled and nervous about the conclusions. Of courrse, there was a certain amount of necessary chest-thumping which follows the atrocity of murdering three thousand American citizens on our own soil.

But history does not particularly care whether our cause is noble. It demands respect and observance.

So even though we thought we were more skilled at military causes than the lumbering Soviet Union, we found that our mission into Afghanistan was equally as frustrating, intimidating and foreboding. There are some things that shouldn’t be done because they can’t be done.

It is difficult to understand this particular axiom when we are engorged with patriotism and fueled by rage. It would have been much better to send in twenty specially trained platoons to locate Osama bin Laden and then extract them as quickly as possible when the mission either succeeded or failed.

Foot soldiers on the ground demand a footing, which Afghanistan does not adequately provide.

  • Did we learn?
  • Will we understand that justice and retribution are rarely the same thing?
  • Will we comprehend that people who are constantly invaded become more suited to repelling invaders?

I don’t know–but it is difficult to believe that Afghanistan is any better off today than it was when the American flag was first unfurled on its borders.

(And remember, it is not unpatriotic to question the actions of your nation. It is actually our patriotic duty to find better and more enlightened paths.)

　

 

Affront

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Afghanistan: a mountainous, landlocked republic in central Asia, pop. 16,600,000. Capital, Kabul; official languages, Pashto and Dari

We were enraged. (Well, at least involved in an aggressive pout.)

When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1980, the US took a stand against such aggression, and even boycotted the Olympics in Moscow to express our displeasure.

Equally displeased with the invasion were the Afghans.

But what the Soviet Union did not understand, with all of its blustering bombing and Bolshevism, is that the people of Afghanistan are very adept at being invaded and repelling all would-be conquorers with both resolve and their terrain–which is extremely unfriendly to foreigners.

So candidly, when the United States came up with the notion of invading Afghanistan following the 9/11 tragedy, I was a bit startled and nervous about the conclusions. Of courrse, there was a certain amount of necessary chest-thumping which follows the atrocity of murdering three thousand American citizens on our own soil.

But history does not particularly care whether our cause is noble. It demands respect and observance.

So even though we thought we were more skilled at military causes than the lumbering Soviet Union, we found that our mission into Afghanistan was equally as frustrating, intimidating and foreboding. There are some things that shouldn’t be done because they can’t be done.

It is difficult to understand this particular axiom when we are engorged with patriotism and fueled by rage. It would have been much better to send in twenty specially trained platoons to locate Osama bin Laden and then extract them as quickly as possible when the mission either succeeded or failed.

Foot soldiers on the ground demand a footing, which Afghanistan does not adequately provide.

  • Did we learn?
  • Will we understand that justice and retribution are rarely the same thing?
  • Will we comprehend that people who are constantly invaded become more suited to repelling invaders?

I don’t know–but it is difficult to believe that Afghanistan is any better off today than it was when the American flag was first unfurled on its borders.

(And remember, it is not unpatriotic to question the actions of your nation. It is actually our patriotic duty to find better and more enlightened paths.)