The Conscientious Objector
When war consumes a peaceful mind,
And, I a peaceful man in kind,
I told my father, “I object”,
He had me sit with him; Reflect.
My father served in the Great War,
He loaded trains with bombs he bore,
He learned a trade to change his stead,
Became a baker baking bread.
A minister now his reward,
To preach the Word and serve the Lord,
His son now faced the lottery,
New war was his reality.
“If you object that is your right”,
“Not carry weapons or to fight”,
“But, you will face at men’s request”,
“If you could face the certain test.”
“If evil men invade right here,”
“Your mother, brothers shrink in fear”,
“A weapon close and only you”,
“This is the test, what do you do?”
Peter Lowell Paulson
April 7, 2017
Note: Our latest conflict brought this real conversation with my father to mind.
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