Peace Through War?

2 Timothy 3: 1-5 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Can we find peace in war?

A simple meme with a child in an Army hat on facebook draws out the roaring crowd; the words anything war can do, peace can do better. Yeah, memes feed my writing these days. The ones I agree with and ones I disagree with.

“Anything war can do, peace can do better.”

Full names hidden to protect the innocent.

Comment from James: “Si vis pacem, para bellum is a Latin adage translated as, "If you want peace, prepare for war". What this means is war is inevitable and peace will never last. So no matter how good peace sounds, sadly there will always be war.”

Comment from Hannu: “It's more like a question about constructive or destructive thinking. I guess war is a good business for some ...but how much good does it really do? Revenge leads to another revenge...it's endless...

Building bridges is better than building walls.

Utopia ? 

So what is it worth to win a battle if the war still gets harder and harder? That's what is happening now...nobody wins...”

Glenda wrote: “If only that statement were true. Wonderful young men & women who have served in our military who have lost their arms & legs. Lost their lives. To protect Americans & their freedoms against those who kill Americans. This post is irresponsible.”

John wrote a well thought out comment: Whenever I see discussions on-line promoting peace in the world, the path to peace is nearly always expressed in ways that indicate that peace must begin with us, and then the world will of course, become peaceful overall. This “peacefulness” as a practice frequently is promoted as a process of Spiritual Passivity, like that observed by practicing Buddhists.

Some 5 or 6 years ago as a result of this topic continually coming up in a discussion group that I facilitate I wrote a (somewhat long) article named: “An Argument Against the Development of Passivity as a Spiritual Practice”, that some might want to check out.

About a third of the way down in the article I state:

“The fact that we must be aware of is that the overwhelming majority of our fellow inhabitants of this planet neither understand, nor are much interested in understanding, our interest in developing a sense of detachment. As a result, they can misinterpret one of the aspects that manifest in an individual as they develop a sense of Detachment through Denial”…

…“The appearance of “outward passivity” has become a prominent goal in many of the Westernized Yogic and New Age Philosophies. It has been promoted as a character trait to be prized and developed on its own, rather than recognized as an outer manifestation of an inner development.” 

“The snag is that Passivity developed as a personality trait alone can actually draw conflict.”

Wow. There are some intelligent comments when you scan facebook but a lot of the times the people are so filled with rage you begin to see why we don’t live in a world where peace is an option.

Last night we watched a movie called The Giver. I’m not into sci-fi but this one had a Tomorrowland feel to it and since I liked that one so much, I gave The Giver a shot. It was not a bad premise. The world had been changed and taken over, minds were erased and there was no hate, war, jealousy, anger, you name the emotion. People-bots floated around in a pristine controlled-life living and raising only children who were worthy. 

Also gone was love. The feeling of love. One person was to receive the memories taken and stored with the Giver and wouldn’t you know it, the chosen one was a rebel going to defy the leader of the new world.

By the end of the movie, I realized something and it might only make sense to me but with everything going on in the world today it struck me as ironic. Without love, you can’t feel hate and with hate gone, you can’t know love. We watched the movie World Trade Center the other night and I believe the end words were:

John McLoughlin: [Narrating] "9/11 showed us what human beings are capable of. The evil, yeah, sure. But it also brought out the goodness we forgot could exist. People taking care of each other for no other reason than it was the right thing to do. It's important for us to talk about that good, to remember. 'Cause I saw all of it that day."

That says it all. While the darkness tries to smother you, while hate tries to take over the world love and compassion will rear its head and you’ll feel what all the angst is for, for us to find LOVE!

Rev. 19:14 “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”

Tomorrowland

The Giver

World Trade Center

Helpless!

4 Ezra 2:27 “Be not weary: for when the day of trouble and heaviness cometh, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but thou shalt be merry and have abundance.”

HELPLESS

There is no other word to describe how I’m feeling right now. Helpless! One single word. Oh, I’m feeling a river of emotions but helpless is at the top of my list.

I’ll start with… my dad is dying. Don’t be so negative you might say but as you my readers well know, I’m the optimistic one. I always see the bright spot in any given circumstance and I’m struggling so hard to dig through the gray mire and find some sunshine to cling to here.

A little background: My dad had heart surgery twenty years ago and he’s had a stent placed on an artery of his heart, he’s survived throat cancer, five years clean now, and he also suffers with emphysema. He’s been on oxygen for quite awhile now and last week he was taken to the emergency room because he couldn’t breath, his oxygen wasn’t working. He was told to use the oxygen when necessary and my dad used it 24/7. Little did he know that THAT was doing more harm than good.

A little over a month ago when he had his visit with the Cardiologist, the doctor looked at him and said, “I can’t believe you’re still alive.” You see, all the x-rays show my dad has a heart that looks like a mangled car wreck but it is still driving.

Last Friday, as the doctor did his work, and the nurses did theirs, day after draining day I sat here feeling helpless. You see, I can’t just hop on a plane and go see my father. I’ve made ample use of my phones free minutes on the weekend and the not free minutes during the week. I have called and talked to him, talked to my mother and well… no one wants me home for fear my father will get the impression that he’s dying. If everyone comes and sees him, since no one sees him while he’s alive, coming to visit will surely speak volumes that he is near death.

Tuesday my mother had offered to pay for my trip back home but later when I told her the astronomical airfare prices, she quickly said, “I can’t afford that!” I understood but was hurt nonetheless. I think I overestimated the quote I gave her not knowing $1500 was for three adults, three days, round trip.  And that is not including the hotel I’d need to stay at or the rental car that we’d need. No, going home just isn’t an option.

Then there’s MY disability that would hinder travel. I can’t just be squished onto a tight-seated plane with the arthritis in my back. A three hour car drive to Omaha then boarding the plane to fly two or more hours only to have a layover in N.C. to take off again for another two hours of flying to Baltimore. After the flight I’d never be able to walk off the plane, with limited legroom, I’d definitely need a wheelchair. That is NOT how I want to visit my father, with not nearly enough time to ‘visit’.

Helpless! There IS no solution except prayer.

I had said on my Family Facebook page, “I might never get to see my family again.”

My sister retorted, “That was YOUR choice.”

Yes, I chose to leave Hell! I chose to find LOVE even if it took my last breath I would find and KNOW what love is, what family is all about, what my God had planned for me and I would not look back. Yes, MY CHOICE! That wasn’t my reply to her but something similar. I wrote, “Yes, I wanted to see what REAL love was and I found it.”

A dear friend who I confided in told me, “Joni, you don’t need that family, you have your family right there with you and your spiritual family to uphold you.”

He was right. As hard as it may be NOT going home to put my father to rest. I am at peace knowing that he knows I’ve found what I was looking for and he can die a happy man.

After writing, I don’t feel so helpless. Thank you sweet Jesus!

4 Ezra 12:5 Lo, yet am I weary in my mind, and very weak in my spirit; and little strength is there in me, for the great fear wherewith I was afflicted this night.

Double Double Toil and Trouble

"However great a man's natural talent may be, the art of writing cannot be learned all at once." Jean Jacques Rousseau
***

Well it seems I’ve stirred up some trouble again. Just when I think the stew is cooked, I go and throw another coal on the fire.

As a writer, my goal is to encourage other writers, and try to help them build the confidence in themselves that will get them to the next level of their journey. My aim is to motivate them, teach them, and give them the best information that I know, to see to it that they keep writing until their fingers bleed.

The first thing I tell the new writer is that if you don’t have a thick skin, can’t handle criticism, can’t take the heat when it is bearing down on you, then writing is not the field that you’ll want to enter into, no matter how much you like writing. Sure your mom loves your writing, your friends say what a natural you are, and you yourself feel like you can do it, but when a bomb drops, you’re the first to run for cover.

Writers need to be able to handle the heat. More times than not, you will hear the words, “This could use some work.” or “Might I suggest you try this instead.” These are not words saying your writing is bad, these are writers who know what they are looking for and want to help you become a better writer and assist you in getting from point A to point B.

As much as we love our moms, they do not know what they’re looking for when it comes to storyline, plot or structure. Their child has written a masterpiece and they think it is the Goldmine of the century, but then you hand it to a critique group and you find, it needs work? “But my mom said...” Forget what your mom and friends say, listen to what your writer friends say.

This week I may have lost a writer in the making. I can only do so much to stretch out my hand and offer comfort where they might need it. The rest is up to them, and I’m hoping with the strength and comfort the writing community offers to people, this person will find his way back to doing what he loves.

Writing isn’t about always being RIGHT, it isn’t about money, and it certainly isn’t about ego, it is about doing what you love and sharing it with others. Your hard work is rewarded by people loving your work, being touched by something you wrote or paying you an honest compliment.

We all, as writers, need to hear the good stuff, as much as we need to learn from the bad stuff. Mistakes are made and you move on. You’re a writer! Show the world what you’re REALLY made of!