"Old One Eye"

Growing up we had a horse that my dad called "Old One Eye".

"One Eye" was a pretty nice horse most of the time. I can't say for sure, but I think that her blind eye was on the right. This made it difficult to do some things with her if you happened to forget to always be on her left. Mostly, Dad used her as a brood mare, but there were some occasions that he took her hunting as a pack horse used her as a riding horse..

One Eye's change in personality with her blind side became evident when a friend who was leading her into our barn changed sides. She ended up kicking a huge hole in the door of the barn.

We had another horse that we called the "Crazy Mare" She was a great brood mare, but you couldn't ride her. If I remember right, they were doctoring her leg and had her tied down when she panicked and began beating her head on a fence post. For the next several days, she was near death. Our dad treated her head injuries; sewed up her leg and wrapped it in a gunny sack. She was a beautiful horse and all of her colts were gentle and wonderful.

We are discovering that our lives have the same unpredictability as these two horses. Getting on the blind side of an opposing view today, usually means that someone will get hurt.

One solid rule in life is that we cannot coax the wagon team out of the mud until everyone begins to start pulling in the same direction. And by pulling, I don't mean that we have to agree on everything, but recognize that we are Americans and pride in our country should mean more than it does today.

The Crazy Mare represents the good that can come out of adversity. She was never the same after injuring her head, but she went on to produce a new generation of colts each one more beautiful than the last.

You cannot throw away two hundred plus years of sacrifice made by our forefathers to fit a square peg into a round hole. History repeats itself when no one chooses to learn their lesson the first time around. Our lesson today is that we are all AMERICANS; no hyphens, no cuts to the front of the line or excuses.

We cannot destroy the broken and the unborn simply because we judge that they will not contribute to society in the same manner as the majority will.

The crux of the problem is that when we tried to fix "social poverty" with a hand-out nearly 50 years ago. It started out as a good idea, but began to grow into a huge monstrosity as the rest of the social mores went by the wayside in the late 60's and 70's.

You cannot expect a home to remain intact when you systematically begin to pull out all of the materials that support the structure. Now in 2011, we are finding that only a token few are trying to keep the house intact.

The foundations went first and then the siding that protected us from the outside forces. The windows of truth have been broken and finally, we are inspecting the roof and proclaiming panic that our abode is no longer sustainable or safe.

Bit by Bit, we have been robbed of the good things in life. Peace, Prosperity and Happiness. But the individuals who have been robbed the most are the poor girls and women who have believed the lie that an unborn baby is not real if you don't want them. We enter into relationships without a thought of tomorrow and cry when the result of that interlude produces a baby or disease. They believed the lie that you have a choice concerning your body and and were surprised to find out that having an abortion does affect your mind and body, no matter how "safe" it is..

Throughout history, when man wanted to destroy a life, they would convince themselves that they were not human. This is evidenced in slavery and the WWII. The end result of those decisions cost more lives than we can imagine. Families were separated in both eras. Wars were fought to defend the rights of the oppressed.

What would have been different,if my dad had chosen to put either the Crazy Mare or One Eye down? There would have been over a dozen colts that that wouldn't have come into being.

What would have been different in the 60's if the plan to aid those who were impoverished was to provide a hand-up instead of a hand-out? We have traded our children's futures for a "free" lifestyle complete with the lie that you are not hurting anyone but yourselves for the choices that you make in the world.

Arguing about the social issues of the day need to be put into perspective. OUR HOME HAS BEEN RANSACKED FROM WITHIN!!! The termites of choice have eaten away the supporting walls. The significance of a mere two by four being removed from our home has taken on an entirely different meaning as we watch our homes begin to collapse. Each and every one of us matter!!! But a nail is no more important than a board and a window is no less important than a roof.

But we can rebuild, it is not too late. The materials to make a solid home are available, we are AMERICANS!, Pride in our country will make our home a better, stronger place again, if we all work together.