Hi John and Doves:

First, thank you all for being there--it is a haven for my spirit.

I saw Flags of our Fathers last night, and having been 8 years old when WWII
ended, I have distinct memories of the era--the whole feel of it, the whole
look of it. I think this was an exceptional piece of filmmaking in that sense.
The mothers, really quite young but not looking it (as in the bikined Mom of
today) with their house dresses and their oxfords, their kitchen tables around
which the family gathered,
and radios, the same.  There was basically no foul language (a small word here
and there )--nothing like we hear on any rap station today. Flags--like
Looking For Private Ryan--brought that battle up-close and personal and I
certainly left the theatre with a different perspective on my little problems.
I also manage to 'pray without ceasing' so I was talking to Jesus about my
feelings the whole time--and telling Him that I thought NOW would be a
wonderful time for Him to scoop us up.

I guess the biggest thing about the film, aside from there being 20,000 of the
enemy to 7,000 of the US was the stark contrast of lifestyles and thinking. I
remember that lifestyle, that thinking. It was very much Christ-centered,
prayer-centered, church-centered--and your neighbor was practically everyone
in your community. Well, we've "come a long way, baby"--and it's all downhill.
(I may have the actual numbers wrong--but we were seriously outnumbered.)

WWII interests me more than any other war, because the more I look at it, the
more I know God had His arms around us.  Someday I think we'll learn just how
much.

Does anyone remember that (I think) when we used to say the Pledge of
Allegiance, it was "one nation, indivisible, etc"--and sometime later changed
it to "one nation, under God, indivisible".  Maybe my memory is failing, but
it seems like that's the way it was--and we said it every morning before
classes.
Now we don't say it at all.  And, like Paul Harvey says--"you know the rest of
the story."

Thanks for bearing with me on my little trip back through time.
Onward Christian Soldiers!
Marcia