Part 1:
The crocus have poked their green leaves above the snow and are beginning to bloom; it is the middle of March and spring here in America is promising. The folks have made orders to Gurneys and are eagerly awaiting their seeds. Planting time is not far away.
Unrest in the Mid East boils over. The year is 2011 and the Arab Spring has begun. Folks living in the Mid East won’t have much time this spring for planting and enjoying natures beauties.
The Yellow Forsythia bush by our bedroom window is in bloom. We brought the starter for this bush from my house in my hometown. It makes me think of my girlhood and of the many years here that I have seen the blooms from my bedroom here we live now and have known our American Spring is here another year.
“Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain…”
The Arab Spring is a stark contrast to the American Spring. It exploded as country after country erupted into violence, rage, and bloodshed. The people of the Mid East yearned for freedom, for liberation from tyrants who had reigned for decades. What the rebels lacked in training, war machines, and manpower, they made up for with pure grit, resolve, and sheer determination.
In America, buds are beginning to open in the apple orchard. Tulips and jonquils have sprouted and the greening plants have already grown three to four inches. It won’t be long before a riot of colorful blooms open to greet the coming of each new morning. Yes, spring is definitely in the air here in America.
“For Purple Mountains majesty, above the fruited plain.”
In 2011, as spring was in the air here in America, in the Mid East, the Muslim Spring raged with riots, protests, and bloodshed as common, ordinary citizens attacked their rulers, dictators who had governed their lands with iron fists for decades.
Lilacs here have buds swelling, ready to burst into clusters of lavender glory, the gentle smell of spring beginning to permeate the air. Nothing is sweeter than the smell of lilacs in the spring.
Iranians revolted early in the Arab Spring last year, but receiving no help from outside sources like Nato, the United Nations, or America, they fell in defeat, their mullahs and leader triumphant in victory, crushing the efforts of the rebels. Death and defeat flooded the streets of Iran. Rebels were killed and women were raped. Shari Law ruled over the land.
At home, the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. was especially beautiful last year. The cherry trees, a gift from Japan in 1906, bloom faithfully every year, announcing that spring is really here. They frame the White House with an iconic view that Americans everywhere see and feel pride in the house they own where the President lives. This view speaks of all we Americans value. There is no more beautiful season than spring in America and no more beautiful sight than the cherry bossoms in Washington D.C.
“For purple mountain majesty above the fruited plain.”
In the Arab Spring, Egyptians overthrew their long-time ruler, in bloody clashes, reorganized their government under the military and are in the process of giving more and more strength to the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that has been active in Egypt since the 1920s. The Muslim Brotherhood is now creating Sharia law where before there was a democracy of sorts. The Egyptions seem no better off and are maybe worse off than they were before they rose up in the Muslim Spring. Much Egyptian blood was shed in this uprising, but hope remained and elections were held. The Muslim Brotherhood won in many of the races
It is spring in America and Easter is here. New baby chicks come out of their shells and bunny babies take first hesitant little hops. Happy children hunt colorful Easter eggs hidden by the elusive Easter bunny. Folks shed heavy, somber winter clothes and break out into bright colored clothes mimicking the colors of Easter eggs. Easter is the holiest time of the year for millions of Americans. The Jews everywhere celebrate the Passover, the most holy of the Jewish holidays. The Passover celebrates the exodus of the Jews from Slavery in Egypt. The Christians throughout the world celebrate Easter, the most holy of Christian holidays. This is the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, then his resurrection, the ultimate victory of redemption, and the promise of eternal life for Christians everywhere. Jewish and Christians both celebrate Easter side by side. There is no fighting or riots between faiths.
Everywhere except in the Muslim Spring.
“America, America, God shed his grace on thee.”
Death is everywhere in the Mideast. As Jews and Christians rejoice and celebrate the Easter Season here in America, Muslims there fight the stranglehold of strong government armies with superior armies, tanks, and equipment. The rebels don’t have much going for them, but they have a searing desire to be free from the tierney of oppression. They strike time after time and time after time, they are driven back.
April showers bring May flowers here in America. Newborn lambs gambol and romp in greening fields in the land of the free. Days get longer and frigid winter air warms in the spring sunlight. The boys of summer finish spring training and don their uniforms for another season. The first home baseball game of the year is always a long-awaited event to the loyal fans who troop to the stadiums of their home teams.
Meanwhile in the Mideast, government troops often crush those fighting valiantly for liberation from oppression, yet the freedom fighters rise up time after time to fight some more. We here in America sympathize with the rebels, yet have no concept of what it must be like for the people of the Mideast fighting in their Arab Spring. Would Americans fight this hard? This long? Yes, I think we would. Our freedoms are important to us. But we don’t have to fight. Our freedoms were won for us over 230 years ago, and maintained for us by the brave soldiers of every generation since then. America is still free today through all the wars and fighting that has happened. We here in America must never forget how lucky we are. All we have to do is maintain the freedom we were given.
“And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.”
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