Sunday Morning

~ Live & Learn

Lord, make a factory of peace,
Make more hope,
Hate, the least.
Make war as small as a speck of sand
And terrorism a wick on a candle that burns to ashes.
And make love and peace as big as a skyscraper.
And hope like a mountain that’s 1,000 feet tall.
And make the volume of friendship be so loud
It shakes the ground.

~ Alex House, “The Volume of Friendship.”  Alex House lives in Upton, Massachusetts. He wrote this poem in Sunday school on Feb. 16, 2003, when he was 8 years old

Notes:

  • Inspired by: Tim Kreider – “Go Ahead, Millenials, Destroy us” – “As with all historic tipping points, it seems inevitable in retrospect: Of course it was the young people, the actual victims of the slaughter, who have finally begun to turn the tide against guns in this country. Kids don’t have money and can’t vote, and until now burying a few dozen a year has apparently been a price that lots of Americans were willing to pay to hold onto the props of their pathetic role-playing fantasies. But they forgot what adults always forget: that our children grow up, and remember everything, and forgive nothing. […]  My message, as an aging Gen X-er to millennials and those coming after them, is: Go get us. Take us down…Rid the world of all our outmoded opinions, vestigial prejudices and rotten institutions…the moribund and vampiric two-party system, the savage theology of capitalism — rip it all to the ground. I for one can’t wait till we’re gone. I just wish I could live to see the world without us.
  • Poem: Thank you Beth @ Alive on all Channels
  • Photo:  Chris A with The.Magician (via see more)

28 thoughts on “Sunday Morning”

  10. Wow. 8 years old and to write that…
    And then that “Go Ahead, Millennials, Destroy Us” – double whammy with the perfect picture.
    You do know how to put these things together!

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  11. When Alex was six year’s old, living on the East coast of the USA, 911 happened…he no doubt was aware, didn’t understand and I assume scared, as he references a skyscraper…in 2002 Alex was seven years old and the USA was at War with the first boots on the ground In Baghdad, I am sure he was scared…in 2003 Alex was eight year’s old, terrorism was rampant…Alex thankfully was attending Sunday School as a child and learned of God, Hope, Love, Acceptance…learning Compassion and gaining Wisdom…Alex must have been concerned for the people and children of the world who face danger and fear…while just trying to a safe place to live…Alex was/is a child with Heartfelt Compassion and Wisdom who instead of being fixated with a children’s movie of 2003 (for example Finding Nemo) he was turning upward, toward God with a prayer asking for change in this world, in people’s hearts and actions…Alex knows that God is mighty and hears his prayer… it must be hard at a young age to yield, knowing that God’s timing is different than man’s timing…I sincerely hope that Alex’s wise words are read by many and that many follow his example to Pray for Peace, Hope, Grace and Love…With God as an anchor in Alex’s Life I hope to read more of what he has to say as a young adult…Alex influences I hope are reaching the hearts of many.

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  12. Go, Alex! Alex House, 6’5″, is a world class Fencer who graduated from Princeton with a degree in English… I wasn’t able to locate any of his more current writing…I would assume with his degree in English that there must be some of his writing in Princeton’s Library or student newspaper, archives. I hope those who read this will find the below informational link sources, interesting…Alex a fencing competitor, competes all over the world…think about how he has such a vast audience…I am sure those who speak with him will be impressed with his ease, engaging smile and his ethic in excellence…

    http://www.usafencing.org/page/show/1941236-alex-house

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-house-298185113

    https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2013/03/20/three-greater-boston-teens-make-national-fencing-squad/zhetUdMAwYZleecyKsNyiN/story.html
    text below is an excerpt from the Boston Globe
    “The 6-foot-5, 160-pound House, a senior at Worcester Academy who drives an hour from his Upton home to practice at Wilmington’s Vivo Fencing Club (www.vivofencingclub.com), does not have an épée fencer of similar talent with whom to practice. As a result, his Hungarian coaches, Arpad Horvath, who owns the Wilmington club, and Ervin Szucs, an assistant coach at Brown, recently brought in outside competition.

    “I think it was a big help to have two Hungarian national team members over here the last six months,” said Szucs, who has been coaching Alex since September.

    Over three weeks last month, House’s US ranking in épée jumped from 20th to third, a leap that earned him the final spot on the junior squad.

    “I wasn’t in the mind-set that I was going to prepare for world championships,” he said.

    “I was at that point thinking, let’s have some fun and get some experience. Then, that first breakthrough happened in Sweden at the World Cup,’’ where he scored a top-eight finish, “and all of a sudden people started saying, ‘Hey, you have a shot at making the team.’ ”

    House, who has been accepted to fence at Princeton University next fall, is described by Szucs as “a really intelligent person and fencer, learning fast and picking up everything really easy and putting it in his repertoire, not only for training but also for competitions.”

    The only child of Tim and Ann House, and the first fencer in the family, Alex said he is looking to make it into the top 16 next month in Croatia, even while believing he is capable of finishing higher. But for his first world championships, he said, he figured it was probably a good place to set the bar.

    With fencers typically peaking in their mid 20s to early 30s, and the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics looming, it may not be the last time the threesome teams up for their country.”

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