So This is War?

I woke up this morning, brushed my teeth and made a pot of coffee.  As I sipped from my oversized mug I realized that we are at war.

The U.S.A. is at War

It hit me like a ton of bricks.  Here I have electricity flowing in my house.  My Camry is running just fine along the stop-and-go California freeways.  I drive to the same job, buy the same things, eat the same food as I did when we were at peace.

I look around and everything is as it was.  Every sparrow in its place.  I can neither see nor smell this war.  I am not exposed to the festering stink that should herald its very existence.  I experience it only in images flashed on my computer screen, easily abandoned with the flick of a switch.

Who are we fighting?  What are we fighting for?  When will this war end?

It will not end until the fire and flame and cold and disease are as close to us as it is to the Iraqis that live without the electicity, the computer screen, the comfortable coffee mugs that we take for granted.

My eyes tell me that everything is as it should be, but my heart tells me that this isn't so.  How can I be comfortable and fat and happy while so many suffer and die because of me and mine?  How can I go through my day knowing that we are at war, a war without purpose, without aim, without end?

We are at War