Friends and Neighbors

Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God’s best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one’s self and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another. Thomas Hughes

During twenty-seven years in the Army, I served in many different assignments with our allies. These included: Canada, Great Britian, Australia, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Lithuania, Poland, and others that I’ve certainly forgotten. I was almost always impressed with the soldiers from other nations. In fact, I can only think of one officer that did not impress me. He was lazy as the day is long. Once another officer remarked that if we were to throw him over the wall of the FOB, it would hurt Al Queda more than his work did; but, his hard charging and highly professional sergeant more than made up for any perceived deficits. These men and women made significant contributions to the success of our assigned missions, sometime at great peril. In my last assignment. I worked in USARNORTH (U.S. Army North) the Army component command of NORAD/NORTHCOM. In this command I worked closely with Canadians as part of our unified command in defense of North America. Again, I always felt like the Canadians not only sent their best, but they also shouldered significant burdens as part of our defense.

To hear President Trump say that he thinks we should make Canada our fifty-first state, or that he wants to crush them economically offends and saddens me. When I taught geography and history, I always enjoyed pointing out to my students that our border with Canada was the worlds longest unguarded border in the world. Ours is a common and peaceful border shared between good neighbors, friends and in many cases, family. I also proudly shared with my students the fact that portions of my family tree were Maple, complete with bright red leaves in the fall. I take great comfort in the fact that I have friends who hail from Canada.

In this convoluted intertwined and often chaotic and dangerous world, we need friends. Despite our wealth and associated power, we cannot go it alone. We need good strong friends, especially these days. We do not need any more enemies. There are enough who wish us ill will, we need not manufacture any more. We need to strengthen the ties that bind us, not weaken them. As the old bard says, 

Those friends thou has, and their adoption tried,

Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel.

William Shakespeare

We need to take actions that build up, not tear down. Sometimes we need to take the long view, and understand that in true friendship is one sometimes gives and sacrifices. True friendship is not a transactional, or a quid-pro-quo, relationship. Interestingly, in one assignment where I worked with diplomats from various nations, one of them told me that American diplomats took actions that they believed would bear fruit in fifty years, and diplomats from Great Britian took actions they believed would bear fruit in one-hundred or more years! In friendships, one must deal honorably and kindly. After all, Jesus the great teacher once said, 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. Luke 6:31 English Standard Version So we should take a more measured approach with our great friends to the North. We should not disparage and insult them.

To my friends who would say that it is just rhetoric, I would point out that divisive derogatory words tear down, not build up. We need to strengthen the ties that bind us together, not erode them with corrosive speech. To my friends who might criticize me for taking a dim view of the actions of part of my country, I would point out that sometimes we make mistakes as a nation, and we must be big enough to own up to them and alter our course. Sometimes friendship brings benefits that are not measured by dollars in an accountant’s ledger.