Merry Christmas from Lou

I did something this Christmas morning that I wish I had thought of at “Christmases long long ago,” as Andy Williams sings. The idea came to mind to don my vintage (1966) U.S. Army field jacket and hold my peace flag outside St. Dominic Catholic Church about a mile from my home in Shaker Heights, waving at drivers and greeting pedestrians heading to the 11 o’clock mass. Several drivers gave me friendly toots of their horns or a thumbs up or waves in appreciation of my peace message. One gentleman walking his large white dog several feet away while in a crosswalk shouted, “Peace on Earth!!” I shouted back, “Yep…we sure need it!” To pedestrians walking past me on the way to church I said, “Do you think the Prince of Peace would like my flag?” One gentleman said, “He would” and a woman said, “I think so!” I said to one young man, “I was in Vietnam for a year. I like peace a lot more than war”. He said, “Thank you for serving our country.” I said, “You’re welcome. Thank you,” as he walked away. I didn’t have time to tell him, “I didn’t serve my country. I served deceitful, lying, fear mongering war mongering politicians and their war profiteering bed partners”. After mass began I headed to my car and could hear parishioners singing “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” as I got into my car for the ride home.