"If You're Reading This, Something Happened to Me"

Could Americans pull together if our lives depended on it?

I read Daniel Gordis, Inside Israel, almost every day. His most recent entry, here, talked about the notes that young soldiers leave behind for their families in case they do not come home.

Their dedication to their country, the Jewish people, and their families, is awe inspiring. They know that being willing to fight is the price of the very survival of the Jewish people.

I have wondered, long before October 7, if this country could defend itself if attacked. We certainly aren’t handling climate change well, but that’s a slow moving problem. In my neighborhood and all over my city, there is looting and destruction whenever there is some chaos. Even when people have a peaceful protest, where the vast majority are expressing themselves in accordance with the laws of our country, a group will use it as an excuse to smash windows of local businesses, steal and make life more difficult for the ordinary people who just want to live their lives.

Americans are comfortable, even those who are not. We have not had a war on our own soil since the Civil War. That was a while back. The idea of our own homes being attacked is so foreign, so alien, that I think most cannot imagine it. Except, of course, those who remember 9/11. Even then, there was no ground invasion. Law enforcement has done a pretty good job of preventing domestic terrorism. Thank you, those who enforce the laws that keep us a free society.

It goes without saying that we are divided, extreme left, extreme right, angry but all too quiet center.

Who is strong enough to fight for our freedom? Thank you to those who serve in our military, even though you get nowhere near the respect you deserve.

How could we ever come together if our very safety was threatened?

I hope we do not have to find out.