I find myself unknowingly and ungraciously pigeonholing others who have pigeonholed me.
I am ultimately a selfish human being. If I were in a sealed room where slowly but surely the oxygen would be depleted and my children, grandchildren and other love ones were there….I would resolve to die first, so that they might live. In the end, I will lose that noble thought as I go unconscious and fight for the last bit of oxygen. That part of our brain has no moral code, other than survival. It is humbling to know that it controls and determines at least 90% of the 70,000 decisions I will make today, 99.99% of them without my adult brain being able to filter the choice.
I drove past some heavily disguised fracking wells yesterday and thought if we poisoned someone to extract another week of work from them, we would (quite deservingly) go to jail, or at least we should.
To those of you who are familiar with my “causes,” you have heard me speak of a concept WINTA. A concept triggered by my going to do a talk at a “Friends” or “Quaker” church. Outside the building was a vertical flag that read “WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER.” (I went to that church recently and the flag was gone, I hope they haven’t given up on the concept.)
They were speaking of what we all know as wars between countries, between peoples. It hit me then and there that war is not the answer internally either. Making peace with what it means to be a human being IS the answer.
Accepting that idea (WINTA) is the first step. Not an easy or universally accepted concept. We are advised to battle, fight, go to war against, hate, manage, medicate, etc. the various parts of ourselves that we, or others don’t like. War against our human nature is a great concept, except it doesn’t work in the long run.
The second step in the WINTA approach is to learn how to engage in a peace initiative. Gradually, slowly making peace. This one seems to work.
I have written about this before and I mention this again, here and now because I was touched deeply by the loss of someone who fought the good fight against themselves (as they were directed) and lost the battle.
War wounds people. Wounded people wound others. Whatever war we wage on ourselves, we wage to some degree on others.
I was soberly reminded that war too often kills. Sometimes we see the body, sometimes we see the walking dead. All are innocent victims of a misguided strategy to help them find peace.
I’m a Quaker, I guess. WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER.
Comentarios