A Thousand Splendid Suns

This could be the title of my vacation I just arrived home from. I spent the last 3 days in Long Beach, going to an unimpressive theme park, college campus, and beach. Check out my mom's blog 'castle mom and dad' for the details. And, there may be more to follow here... but I wanted to blog about another splendid sun...

For those of you who keep up with the best seller list, I read Khaled Hosseini’s (author of the Kite Runner) new book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's impossible to describe the book along with it's themes briefly, and, don't worry, I'm not going to try to do it justice here. I will just say, please read the book. If you read Kite Runner, it's very similar in it's graphic portrayal of another culture, other customs, and luckily, another life than the one I lead.

All I'll say about the book is this... I complain and criticize our federal and local government with the best of them. I see the injustice that happens in our own country, to our own people, as well as those seeking refuge here. I don't presume to have the answers to all or even some of our problems. Our culture (yes, even here in Utah) has many faults and room for improvement.

But, I think, for the most part, we recognize the value of life and the pursuit of happiness. I'm not sure if I ever thought about that statement much -the right to find out what makes us happy, and work for that goal. No one's life has turned out the way we thought it might, but I am positive anyone who will ever come across this particular blog has had joy in their life and felt like things may get better.

What we value as individuals, families, communities, and as a nation, has merit and many people have given their time, money, reputation, and even their lives to create and build upon a few basic beliefs. And for that... I think we do live in a land of a thousand splendid suns.