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Most of us living in America today have been fortu-

nate and have lived in the best of times. We have loads of stuff that we could do without. We use way more than our share of the natural resources in this world. We travel, eatout, and attend entertainment activities all the time. Almost everyone has cars, television, dishwashers, washing machines, freezers, computers and many other conviences. Third world people only dream of such things. Most of them are so busy surviving they do not even have time to even dream of such things.

But still like most people in America I was angry. sick at heart, and depressed about the tragedies in New York and Washington D.C. Most of all I was scared. When people in this country started harassing other American citizens because they were Arabs or Palistians that scared me. Steven's, my grandson, skin is dark coming from Guetemala. Could he be the target of some racist seeking revenge? He is a fantastic little boy. He loves his grandpa more than anybody but his mother, brother, and father. He has a winning personality that almost everyone notices. But there are millions of little kids just like him in Pakistan and Albania. It was sad to see the little children and adults in Albania cheering when they saw what was happening in Washington and New York. What has caused such hate? One person said "America cannot do anything that will hurt us anymore. Our homes, the places where we work, our markets, our places of worship have already been bombed and destroyed."

So, is it any wonder that they hate us? I am too old and tired to hate anymore. It takes too much energy to seek revenge. I would rather work for peace. Don't get me wrong. I think that if it is possible to catch the persons responsible for these tragedies they should be caught and tried in the court. They are too dangerous to all the peoples of the world but let's proceed with extreme caution.

My second fear is for my country. If we overreact, as it seems to me my attorney general John Ashcroft is doing, we may lose some of our basic civil rights, guaranteed in the constitution and the bill of rights. My third fear is that we will overreact and many innocent people will be killed and injured. And that some of those may be our own young people. Fighting in a privimative land is real scary. We must not lower ourselves to the level of the terrorists.

I am angry because so many of my fellowcountrymen are suffering emotional and physical pain. But most upsetting of all is that our government trains terrorists. Where did Osama bin Laden go to terrorists school? He went to the CIA for his training. I am angry because our government has encouraged terrorist acts. We paid, trained, and armed a group of terrorists in Nicaragua in the 1980s and killed over 30,000 civilians. We don't remember that now that the tables are turned. We have orphaned many children around the world with our taxpayer-funded terrorism in Chili, Viet Nam, Gaza, and in El Salvador. All of that can be documented. The school of America in Georgia has taught many people terrorist tactics, often used to terrorize people in South America.

Still I love America and the American people. I have been praying for George Bush, Colin Powell, John Ashcroft, John Chaney and other goverment officials. I have been praying for the victims as I hear their tragic stories.

If I read my Bible correctly God loves everyone in the world, even the terrorists. I admit that it is very hard to do. Jesus says that the reward is to love your enemies, so I am praying for them. Maybe some day I will love them. I PRAY FOR OUR WORLD AND FOR YOU.

With love,

Dad, Grandpa, Uncle, Brother, Sister, Friend or however I am related to you.