Wednesday, June 06, 2007

MOM, APPLE PIE AND PEACE

"Cause out on the edge of darkness,
there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country,
come take me home again"
C.STEVENS

When I was in the 5th Grade, me and my buddies were all playing 'Pile-on" in the back yard...you know where you just make a big pile of kids and as you get squirted out the bottom you take a running start and pile back on?
Anyway, my Mom came to the back porch with her Watermelon Apron on and a wooden spoon in her hand and hollered
"Stephen Bulletholes!!!"

Well, when she used my full name I knew there was trouble.
'Are you boys fighting back there?
"Yes Ma'am"
"Well ya'll stop that right now, you hear me"
"Yes Ma'am"


We stopped right away.

Annelisa is promoting a blog for peace thing and so here is my plan, based on this childhood memory:

We get all the Mothers to just go get their boys, wherever they may be and tell them not to fight.
Tell 'em to just stop "piling on".

THE PLAN

Bring 'em home and fix 'em something to eat. A bowl of Soup and some Apple pie.
There may be some Mothers out their fighting right now, but they got mothers somewhere that are not fighting, and those mothers ashould go get their girls, and even if they don't I still think there are enough Mothers in the world to just go get all these children of the world and keep them from hurting each other.
It would have worked anytime.
In Athens or Carthage.
At Sterling or Bunker Hill.
If Attila's mother had gone and gotten her boy, just think how many lives would have been saved.

Even Alexanders Ashes have a Momma somewhere.

George Patton had a Mother..."Through a Glass, Darkly"

If all those boys mothers had shown up at Gettysburg, that war would not have gone on another two years.
Along the trenches and the Siegfried line in the years of 1916-1918 we needed all the mothers just to go get their boys and make em come home.
63 Years ago today, we would not have had to storm that beach at Normandy if more mothers had gone and got their boys during the previous 5 years and kept them from listening to that Mr.. Adolph Hitler.

In Korea, at Pork Chop Hill, there should have been mothers that could have made them stop fighting.

There is no doubt in my mind that Mothers helped, and helped a lot, to get all those boys home from Vietnam. Whole families got involved in that.

Somewhere, right now there are men planning an attack, or building a bomb, or trying to buy a Rocket launcher; but if their mothers would show up in an apron with a wooden spoon and call out their full name, I bet a lot of them would be real ashamed and stop what they were doing.
Some where right now, there is a soldier ready to spend his last round of Ammunition and die for his Country. If his mother could just jump down into that foxhole with him, or behind that defilading wall, I bet she could talk him out of it.

This all may sound a little too simple and I'm sure you may be thinking it would not work...
Its got as good a chance, if not better, as increasing the troops by another 10,000 this month, and 20,000 next year, and so on and so on....
Have you ever put out a fire by pilin' on more wood?

17 comments:

GEWELS said...

I think this would work!

Love the last line- yu are so gifted at getting the point across.

Peace, Baby!

Dave Renfro said...

Here's the problem: Kids fight! Nice thoughts, though.... I'm all about having peace, but I'm satisfied with the progress we are making. There is less violent conflict in the world right now than there has ever been at any time in the past. There are also more blogs, freak activists, and 24-hour news channels exposing the conflicts that are happening. That is a good thing; the wide availability of information is the greatest hindrance to those who seek to destroy peace. We are not going to turn human conflict off with a switch. The best we can hope for is a slow erosion of human conflict. That is occuring without me having to take any action at all. I'm satisfied with that and I will continue to do nothing. I'll leave peace promotion activities to those who enjoy them. I enjoy mowing!

Akelamalu said...

Oh if only!

TopChamp said...

It can't do any harm to try. I don't know that Mimi is hoping for world peace as a result of this. Countrydew (http://bluecountrymagic.blogspot.com/) says: It's an effort to remind everyone that each person can make a difference in the world.

Akelamalu said...

PS Sorry I meant to say Peace to you and yours. Wonderful post.

RUTH said...

Wonderful words Steve....a great Peace Post.

Annelisa said...

Steve... I'll bump you up to number one! :-D

Sorry I've been a bit slow getting here... I'm suffering some sort of horrible stomach bug at the moment, and will have to go back to bed, but I'm glad I stopped by here... you gave me a real laugh, imagining all the mothers turning up in their melon aprons and wooden spoons, and dragging their wayward sons home by the ear!! lol!

But actually... there really is so much truth in what you say. It's because war is so impersonal, and so seperate from 'normal' life that it can keep going like that...

Are you going to write to the president and suggest it to him? How about the other world leaders... maybe we should be petitioning them to get mothers of the world involved!

Love and peace to you, Steve! Have the best day!

bulletholes said...

I tought twice about this post as so many have laid down their "last full measure" for some stunningly good causes...I wish not to offend the Mothers of those Heroic sons...

bulletholes said...

Oh, yeah, there is more than one world leader out there that needs a momma to say to them as mine did on occasion
MISTER, WHAT WAS THAT LITTLE EPISODE ABOUT?

Anndi said...

Wonderful words...

May peace be yours...

"It begins with me..."

Anonymous said...

I would think that would work except for one thing.... it is "conspicuous absence theory."
It is not so much that guys like to fight as that guys will do anything to impress women. War impressed me by the conspicuous absence of women.
I'm not positive who it is that thinks men look so handsome in uniform .... why is it that men should stand up for what's right?
Somehow it is civilized to shoot male soldiers, but not the women and kids.
You are correct. If the women wanted the guys to quit fighting and had a fun alternative, a lot of the guys would not volunteer for the opportunity to win posthumous awards of valor.

Anonymous said...

fantastic idea, steve!! who knows .. it just might work.

GrizzBabe said...

STEVE FOR PRESIDENT!

I'd vote for ya'.

Travis Cody said...

I'm cruising by from Mimi's. What a great idea! Happy Peace Globe Day.

Peace to you!

Mother of Invention said...

I think your idea is brilliant! Get all the moms of the world to unite in scolding their kids!!! Every mother of the world weilding a wooden spoon...now that's power and I say it's enough to make it work.

Mother Hen said...

I'll help.

Mimi Lenox said...

I just read your post. I'm halfway through the Linky List from June 6th!! One of the most interesting posts I've read.

I think you should make a peace globe and put a wooden spoon on it to remind us all of this post.
Your idea is simple.
About as simple as a bunch of flying globes through the blogosphere.

I don't care which idea works as long as something does.
Awareness is the key.

Thanks for writing such a great post!