I have been home now for about 4 months.
My time is now spent enjoying my family (listening to my wife, coaching my boys, re-connecting with friends), developing business strategies at work, and working in the garage /house / yard.
I am also following the current events surrounding the presidential nominations, the continuing events unfolding in our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the greater civil war within Islam, and the "reality" as presented on TV.
Everyone asks how it feels to be home and what the transition is like. Well, I liken it to returning home from a vacation; but in reverse. Spending time in Iraq or Afghanistan forces one to live in a very present reality--embracing distraction can be deadly. Leaving that reality and re-entering American life is like leaving work for a few weeks and entering Disneyland.
I carry a lingering sense (or fear) that this comfort-filled, entertainment soaked American Lifestyle will invariably end some day soon--much like all vacations must end. In the mean time I very much want to enjoy this period, just like when on vacation one tries not to think too much of the travel back home.
Yet I cannot escape what I learned from my experiences: powerful organizations do exist that seek to destroy our way of life--our "Disneylands." I have lived with and walked among the Oppressed. And, for better or worse, I find it difficult to equate the oppression of the Afghanis or Iraqis (whose regular fears include beheadings and such), with the oppression of the American poor or the warmer Polar Bear.
Although I have not witnessed first hand the results of inaction in Africa, I have read detailed accounts of Rawanda and Darfur--and there also I find the Oppressed being ravaged.
I still cannot, in good conscience, stand idly by and let the weak and unprotected become sacrificed to organizations led by hideous ideologies. All the while we run around our "DisneyLand" arguing over who does not have their fair share of cotton-candy, or why is it one degree warmer, or why does my carnival ride cost an extra buck.
So how am I doing? I am enjoying my family and friends, but saddened at the ridiculous effort and energy spent trying to solve "problems" the truly Oppressed would love to have.
I hope that we as a nation can embrace those opportunities to "free the oppressed" in the world today. And that involves caring for our neighbors--inside and outside America.
