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On Saturday my oldest had a Destination Imagination tournament. For those who don't know, DI is a cross between Jeopardy and Improv, with some planning and orchestration thrown in by long-suffering and enduring team managers (read: volunteer parents). I sat with her team and with the team parents as we killed time between the Instant Challenge and their main performance. We watched other teams go through their routines, chatted idly, and juggled costumes, water bottles, younger siblings. In the confusion I had two simultaneous conversations with fourth-graders: first, "Did you hear that the UN established a no-fly zone over Libya today?" and second, "I'm getting a new puppy this afternoon!" The disconnect still lingers, though I am used to a certain amount of crossed wiring and mixed messages.

Next to the computer where I write we have an electronic picture frame that my husband ingeniously programmed to alternate between family photos, weather, and news. I often sit distracted as diverse images such as my daughter's baby face and family reunions from years ago flash by only to be replaced by headlines such as, "Arab Nations' Dislike for Qaddafi Gives Arabs a Point of Unity," and "Bickering Starts Among NATO Allies over Libya Intervention." Today it's hard to hold this juxtaposition. The news about Libya bruises my heart. I honestly don't know what to think: 'here we go again,' or 'thank goodness we saved those rebels from sure death' or 'how are we going to get out'?

I feel that our country, like many of its citizens, is torn by too many pulled threads of obligation and need. The need is infinite, but our resources are not. Like a mother juggling school routines, Spanish classes, sports practices, volunteer obligations, work, and relationship demands, our country juggles Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Japan, and North Korea - all in addition to the domestic agenda of health care, education, environmental protection, food production, etc. Sometimes the dramatic need outside of our normal lives pulls all attention and resources, and we react jerkily, responding to one crisis after another without constructing a long-term vision for our people at home.

My sister pointed this out as we walked on the beach last month - that every entity needs a vision for its efforts to cohere. She felt that our country might be lacking in a 21st century vision, particularly for its own people. We know we want democracy spread around the world, and that we want to prevent genocide, but what do we want for our people at home? I have no answers, only questions, and hope that if many people have similar questions, we might progress on this vision together. I worry about fourth graders who worry about no-fly zones, and about fourth graders living in no-fly zones. I could only wish that the greatest concern of any child was when to pick up, and what to name, her puppy.