'Plaint of the Playwright

'Plaint of the Playwright

[ Monday, October 08, 2001 ]

Welp, I just got back from lunch, and I just read the paper.

Inside the front page was a translation of bin Laden's soon-to-be-famous taped speech, where he stops just short of taking credit for the bombings.

How does this make me feel?

I wish I knew.

Last week I sent the following email to my dad:

I keep meaning to send a group email to the whole family, but stopping myself. It’s hard to explain, but in this day and age, I find it infuriating that when you suggest that a more thorough investigation of the terrible acts on 9/11 needs to be completed before we start a war, you get labeled a “peacenik freak.” Why is it so hard for some people to see that there’s a middle ground?

What’s really funny is that both the conservative side and the liberal sides seem to want all the same things:

1. To find and punish the terrorists who did this.
2. Not to be in a war.
3. For the other side to be objective when they argue.

Lately, everything just seems crazier and crazier. I guess I’m really a grownup, now.


He sent this back:

From: Tatsy Matsushita
To : rob matsushita
Subject : Peacenik Freak
Date : Sun, 7 Oct 2001 07:11:00 -0700 (PDT)


Hi Rob,
Good to hear from you and glad you had a nice quiet birthday.

Both Vicki and I were pleased to hear about your heart for peace before war. Vicki mentioned about
when we lived on Kiowa and you were the peacemaker then. She remembers you showing the Bible to the kids to stop them from fighting - Do you remember this?

Truth be told, I really don't. It's a nice-yet-on-a-whole-other-level-creepy thought, I guess. Ah, I'll make it up to Satan later.

Anyway, I've been praying for the U.S. to use this tragedy as God always purposes evil acts - to turn evil into good. I believe that God wants us to "love our enemies" (Math 5: 43-48) because when we do that it will bring His blessing on both the righteous and unrighteous, the evil and the good.

I'm gonna jump in at this point and mention for those who don't know me, that my dad and my stepmother, Vicki, are very spiritual, and that I'm kind of not.

Now this may be in the form of "tough love" and in the context of justice, and I know I am not capable of understanding how or why God wants this done. Maybe it's to rid the Arab nations of the terrorists so that they would be more open to the Good News of God's Gospel or be in better fellowship with us. Anyway, President Bush needs our prayers...

You said it, Pop.

...because how does he know what God wants him to do, how does he balance the country's interests against his own personal beliefs, or should they be the same.

I'm pretty sure Dad voted for Bush, and has defended him to me.

I thought at times when I was a child that I might want to be president but "when I was a child, I thought like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child". Interesting, but when I looked that verse up, it came from 1 Corinthians 13 - the love chapter.

Just remember this wonderful Beatitude -"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." (Mathew 5:9).

Let's get an amen to that.

We continue to pray for you to stay strong in your peacemeaker heart and we love you for your heart of love.

You were born with this heart and you have always had it throughout your childhood and you still have it as a thirty year old man. Happy thirtieth birthday again.

Love,
Dad


Hmm. I guess I really am directly between my dad and my mom. Weird that it took me thirty years to get there.



posted by Rob on 3:43 PM | link

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