Simple Thoughts about Complex Problems

We were driving home last night when the news came on the radio. Sad reports about the earthquake in Japan and tornadoes in many Western states sparked questions from my children which turn into the winding conversations that are often very precious, both teachable moments and enlightening ones for me as well.

In the middle of that conversation my son picked up on the news report that 5 U.S. military personnel were killed in road side bombings yesterday in Iraq. My ears perked up as well. I felt the sadness of more death (knowing that for the number of U.S. soldiers killed, there were probably dozens more Iraqis killed in the same day). But I was also wondering what my son would say about this report.

In recent months, he has shown a keen interest and perhaps an admiration for the "power" that soldiers portray. He has read David and Goliath and the story of when the soldiers captured Jesus dozens of times each week for the last couple months. He was intrigued by the videos my mom showed about the Book of Acts Christians and how the soldiers tried to catch the Christians and persecute them. He has asked many detailed questions about guns and spears and why the Roman soldiers dressed the way they did. And both my children keep singing the children's song, "I may never march in the infantry . . . " over and over again. Needless to say, my husband has been quite irritated by it all and I have kept a close ear on my son's comments and questions.

Then he said some things I was not expecting at all.

He said, "mommy, they died, right?"

I replied, "yes, that's sad, isn't it? And the news often only reports how many Americans died, but there are usually a lot more Iraqis who died too."

My son continued, "It's sad. They think that fighting will solve their problems. They don't understand that if they said they are sorry, that would solve the problem, right?"

I was so surprised by this simple analysis of such a large, complex problem. In my mind I was envisioning U.S. leaders going to Iraq and saying they were sorry for the destruction the U.S. invoked in their country. I imagined U.S. leaders apologizing to Middle Eastern leaders for the havoc the U.S. has committed over decades of military interferance in the issues between Israel and the rest of the Middle East. I envisioned U.S leaders humbling themselves before the international community, admitting U.S. arrogance in not listening to their voices 6 years ago and becoming a bully that labeled the U.N. as a waste of time and foolish.

What changes might come from saying "we are sorry?" All I could say to my son was, "I'm sure that would certainly help."

I was thinking, "that would certainly be a good place to start!"