April 22, 2013

Hello World!

Boston Strong? I say, "U.S.A. Strong!"

My heart broke over the loss of innocent lives and the many, many who were injured during the Boston Marathon bombings. And maybe because I too have been lost in the darkness, my heart also goes out to the brothers who caused so much destruction and pain. The question of "Why?" is foremost on everyone's mind. Why would two young men with seemingly so much promise be filled with so much hate? And, who was the puppet master behind the destruction? This amount of hate and the mechanism used to lash out rarely occurs in a vacuum.

Sadder still is the futility of terrorism. Hate, fanaticism, whether based on religion, politics, race, or gender never succeeds. History proves this. It may be true that those people living in darkness can deliver gut punches that will drop a community, society, or even a country to its knees, but only momentarily. Again, history proves this.

Boston Strong! New York Strong! Oklahoma Strong! The common bond is the people. What makes the United States of America strong is our diversity - our ability to look beyond the different color skin, the different shaped faces, the religion and politics to admit and agree that we are all human with the right to exist in peace and pursue happiness. This is not always an easy task. Everywhere we turn we can find someone with a different agenda than our own. However, I once heard a wise man say, "Democracy is a system of government wherein the tool of compromise is used to temper extremism." In other words, no one gets everything that they want but everyone gets something.

There is no evil, hatred, radicalism or fundamentalism strong enough to bring down the United States of America. We the people are too strong. The ideals that wove this country together from the beginning cannot be torn apart by explosive devices or airplanes turned into missiles. Listen up, terrorists! The only thing you succeed in is binding Americans tighter together.

We are U.S.A. Strong!

Thanks for checking in on me.

Cordially,
Gregory Barnes Watson
D-67547 VSP B3-15-2U
PO Box 92
Chowchilla CA 93640

Novel: A Thundering Wind
Journal: A Year in a Life Sentence
(Amazon.com)