Two Roads Diverge

My daughter, a lance corporal in the US Marine Corps, is going to Iraq while all her friends are going to the mall. The significance of this divergence is not lost on her, nor on me, nor on any of those who are going with her.

Our lives are shaped by the choices we make. My daughter has made a difficult choice, has taken the harder road and because of it stands on higher ground. She does not belong to herself anymore; instead, she is government property, and lives and moves at its beck and call. She has chosen to give up her rights and to lay her life down for those friends who are headed for the mall. When she returns, how will she compare to them? How will their lives shape up compared to hers? How will they shape the lives of others? How will she? Which of them will respect freedom and understand its privilege and its price as she will? Which of them will appreciate service and sacrifice, and know satisfaction?

Her friends don’t get it. I observe them and it’s obvious that they don’t. They don’t understand that there is more to life than the abundance of things and the number of tunes one carries on his iPod. They don’t understand that we are meant for so much more than consuming stuff. They don’t understand that even the opportunity to have an abundance of things is worth fighting for and even dying for.

I am pleased with my daughter and the choices she has made. She’s given up her life, at least for the moment, so that her friends can go on enjoying theirs. They’re worth it to her.

I hope eventually they’ll get it.