I was reminded today of the Call given to men to be warriors. God gives them an inborn desire to protect the weak and strive valiantly against enemies. Legion are the well-meaning but misguided parents who deny their son war toys only to watch the tyke turn a piece of stale bread into a pistol.
My boys have followed the war avidly since the onset of hostilities. They've spent their free time pretending to alternately invade Iraq and France. But I hadn't realized how deeply Johnny, my 6 year old, was stirred by the fight. Today he came up to the Duchess and I and announced gravely, "I've written a war song."
He sang it to us in his thin little voice, the melody slow and elegaic:
"You'll never kill my brother,
No, you'll never kill my mother.
You'll never kill my sister,
and you'll never kill my father,
until you first kill me."
Afterward, he explained that he wasn't talking about his family, but about all the men and women in America, and the song was about the Army promising to protect everyone at home.
I can't remember ever being prouder to be his father.
Posted by Discoshaman at avril 16, 2003 10:53 PM | TrackBack