Patrick Sums Up Iran: 'A Big Mess'

I heard Patrick pouring the cereal into bowls and then I heard Colleen, as she put the English muffins into the toaster, tell her overnight guest, Alicia, to get the butter out of the refrigerator. It was a Saturday morning and our Saturday morning routine, which is the kids fend for themselves and I monitor the situation from my bedroom where I am lying with my ears open and my eyes closed, was in action.
Usually I listen to make sure no irreparable damage is being
done to the kitchen or to them, but last Saturday I tuned into their conversation when I heard them talking about the Shah.
Patrick was telling the girls that the Shah was sick in New York but now he is feeling better and wants to leave the hospital but he doesn't have any place to go. He can't go back to Iran because everyone there is mad at him but they have all these Americans held as hostages until he comes back.
Then Patrick explained that the Shah used to be the boss of Iran but now the boss is a guy who wears a long coat and has a long beard. He has made everyone in the U.S. mad because he calls the president names and has all these people tied up.
As he poured milk on the cereal he summed it up, "It's a big mess."
As I listened to Patrick's view of current events, I realized he had some of the circumstances mixed up but he had one thing right, it is a big mess.
Iran is consuming our lives. It is making us angry and it is making us fearful, We are fearful for the well-being of the hostages, we are fearful of our country's positions in the world, and we are beginning to be fearful of losing our way of life, a peaceful life, a life we enjoy and have taken for granted.
At his news conference last week, President Carter said, "Every waking moment his thoughts are on the American hostages," The American people have joined him in his vigil. Since the take-over of the Embassy in Tehran, I begin and end my day listening to world news. Every morning my radio alarm clock clicks on and I immediately focus on the news of what happened overnight. As soon as I come downstairs, I go to the front door, get the newspaper, and before starting breakfast I rapidly read the lead stories hoping for some encouraging news.
John leaves for work, the kids go to school, Maureen, the baby, and I stay home but talk of "the crisis" surrounds the otherwise normal day. Phone conversations about car pools or plans for the evening inevitably stray to a discussion on the Ayatollah or the U.N. Security Council.
Our prayers at mealtime are no longer just a thanksgiving for our bountiful life but an urgent petition for the hostages well being and release.
At church in addition to the Advent hymns traditional at this time of the year, the congregation is singing the "Star Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful" as a sign of our support of the
President and the U.S. policy.
I end the day by watching the nightly "Special News Report on Iran." Then I go to bed worried. During my lifetime the United States has gone through many international crises. The Korean War happened when I was too young to remember, the Bay of Pigs happened when I was too naive to understand and when Vietnam came I was mixed up and confused. I just knew I didn't like it.
But Iran is different No longer am I too young or too naive or too confused to remember and to understand. I know now why I don't like what is going on. But for the first time in my life the American people are drawn together with one purpose.
It is this spirit which will see us through the crisis. I pray for the resolution of the Embassy take-over so that this holiday season a truly United States can extol "Joy to the World," "Peace on earth and good will to men,"
December 13, 1979