LONZA

Dear Americans,

     It was with a heavy heart that I first sent these pictures out a year ago and it is with a much lighter one that I send them out now. I have none other than someone known as Osama bin Laden to thank for that and I do so very sincerely. Actually, I am almost grateful to him in a roundabout sort of way. Please indulge me while I explain.

     It is my thought that, while Osama might not have any understanding in regards to God and Jesus, least of all in the things that They stand for, maybe he could have some small conception of a theory of mine that I like to refer to as "Balance"; if it is explained to him properly, of course. After all, it is a very simple thing and, as such, should not be entirely over his turban.

     I do not profess to be as religious as I should be, though I was raised by very religious parents. However, I do try to abide by certain rules and standards and those rules and standards are based upon something so simple and basic as to be profound, I think. They are based upon BALANCE: What will work in a society and what will not. It is my observation that things like morals and standards are as much a matter of the thing that I refer to as "balance" as anything else. The very basic truth of it is that good begets prosperity and evil begets destruction.

     All of this reminds me of a movie made several years ago called "Fail Safe". In the movie, the character played by Walter Matthau asked the hypothetical question, "In the case of worldwide nuclear war and destruction, who would be the survivors?" Matthau's character went on to suppose that it would be the world's most hardened criminals and the file clerks. While his answer to the question might have sounded funny at first, he explained that it would be on account of where they would likely be at the time that the incident took place. The hardened criminals would be protected by the facility in which their crimes against society had landed them and the file clerks would be protected by the fruits of their labor: paperwork. Paper makes a good insulator after all.

     Walter Matthau's character then asked, if these criminals and clerks ended up in a battle against each other, who would win? Would it be the criminals who know violence? Or would it be the file clerks who know organization?

     Well, he didn't have a definite answer to that last question and neither do I, really, but I do know this: Had the criminals managed to wipe out the clerks, they would still have won nothing in the long run. I say this with conviction because of what I pointed out about evil begetting destruction. Without the file clerks to take their animosities out on, the criminals would eventually begin to war amongst themselves and, in so doing, they would inevitably destroy themselves.

     And so it goes that the same will hold true for the likes of Osama. He has nothing to gain by hating his neighbor except the certainty that his own hatred will also turn out to be his own demise.

     As to why I am almost grateful to Osama, well, that is rather simple as well: He might have succeeded in shattering the lives of countless people and their families with his evil deeds, but he has also succeeded in bringing together the HEARTS of the American People. It was as a direct result of his actions that we were reminded once again of who and what we are and what we stand for. We held true to our country's name and became UNITED and so we shall remain for just as long as we have to.

     It is with these thoughts and sentiments that I send to you these five pictures. When viewing them, please say a prayer for those who perished on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, and for all of those who have fought and who continue to fight for our cause.

Just Another American Heart

     That Remembers,

Lonza J. Farkas

     Monday, September 09, 2002