Category: Peace

The Dangerous Game of Retaliation

It’s said, no two things can occupy the same space at the same time. However, this understanding does not apply when the two things are in total opposition and yet both are equally true.

It’s possible to hold the awareness that the Hamas brutal attacks on Israeli settlers and the indiscriminate and unrelenting bombing of Palestinians by the Israeli military are equally barbaric. 

Both are true.  

This dangerous game of retaliation that has claimed the lives of over 6500 Palestinians including 2700 children does not exist in a vacuum. Israel’s refusal to allow sufficient aid to reach those in need is not going unnoticed. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is correctly calling for a humanitarian ceasefire.

The reality is that this has happened far too many times in our collective history. This over powering of captive people, this theft of land, and this total inability to seek peaceful resolution has all been done before. And there are countless peoples throughout the world who reckon with the generational traumas of inhuman colonizing.  

What we all know is this: Violence begets violence and defiance and resistance are the outcome of reckless power and inhumanity. It’s a cycle that we can no longer afford to give way to. 

There are those speaking up for a new approach. Polls indicate two-thirds of United States voters are calling for a ceasefire and thirteen members of Congress introduced a resolution calling for ceasefire “to save Palestinian and Israeli lives”. 

More voices are needed. Yes, two horrible things can both be true. But more powerful than these two truths is the greater reality that all human beings want peace. It’s time we work for it. 

Let Hearts Lead

Let your heart lead. This is not a time to choose sides. This is the time to choose being human. Hamas, or whoever ignited this fuse, acted outside of their humanity when they brutally attacked Israeli civilians. What the Israeli government and military are doing is also acting outside of their humanity. 

Today we listen to the blame and denials of who caused hundreds of children to be killed by a rocket blast to a hospital. More time is spent on the blame game than on the rescue. That is outside of our humanity. 

President Biden’s calculated error was to whole-heartedly support Israel without noting the consequences from such an unequivocal stand. Seeing the inhuman disregard for life by the Israeli government, the administration has attempted to interrupt the mistake, with little success. Mainstream media is happy to fuel the fire with slanted journalism and our citizenry is complicit in ignorance. But we can change this.

The families of those held hostage are wondering why ceasefire and negotiations are not front and center to recover their loved ones. 

We have too quickly pledged our allegiance. The allegiance should be to our humanity, not to a side.  The consequences will continue to spiral, until we once and for all end the disregard of human life. And we can do this.

Our government is playing a very dangerous game. Whether politics, or greed, religious dogma or sheer ignorance are driving the bus, we are heading for another horrible nightmare. 

Have we not learned from the lies that led us into the Iraq war? Have we not witnessed the folly of avenging violence with more violence? 

There is only one side to take. It’s the human side. Help end the madness. Not prolong it.

I am not sure the source of this photo. but if you cannot appreciate the innocence in it, please reconsider what matters most in Life. We are here but for such a short time and we leave this bit of heaven to those who come after us. Think. And act with Love. The choice is always ours.

One Day. Take a listen.

Our Choice

Innocents are dying and humanity keeps revealing the horrific side of our nature. We shake our heads and mutter silent prayers for the killing to end, while others of us pray that the other side may be annihilated. 

It is an old and bitter story that repeats again and again. Humanity boasts of great accomplishments and colonizers race to conquer space yet human kind has not found a way to live and let live.

What is it in our nature that finds it easy to take sides? What kind of ignorance do we harbor? What kind of hatred feeds us?

Why is the voice of peace, that so many cherish, compliant to the voices of war? Are the distractions so great that we cannot take a moment from our busy and entertaining lives to declare an end to the inhumanity? 

You see it is true; whatever happens to one happens to all. We may not feel it; we may be able to ignore it, but the disregard for life eats away at us. Our inability to stand firmly in the river of peace that surely is available to all of us continues to allow ignorance to win.

Many will say, “War is inevitable”. But I say, “What is inevitable is our capitulation, not war”. War can be stopped if we find the passion to do so. War will be stopped when we unify behind passion for living and when we understand the precious gift that every life holds, that every breath promises.

No, we are in the thick of it now. Endless wars and the acceptance of genocide are about as low as we can go.

People say, “God save us”. And God responds, “Save yourselves. You’ve been given everything you need.”

And the choice, as always, is ours.

Peace Day. Every Day.

I was invited to speak at a celebration honoring the International Day of Peace. Here is an excerpt:

Since 1981, when the United Nations declared Sept 21 as the International Day of Peace, people from around the world have gathered to lift up, unite around, and sometimes, demand peace. 

On these celebratory days, people have been asked to consider aspects of peace: ending racism, ending poverty, forgiveness, dignity for all, uniting for peace, ceasefires and more… yet peace has eluded us.

Or has it? People often say, “I love the peacefulness of nature”. They might even say, “I find myself there”. There are places, books, works of art and many beautiful things that touch us. One friend told me she had an experience of peace as she touched the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. She went on to say that that one moment of peace satisfied her for a lifetime. This is not true for me. I find myself needing to feel peace every day. 

So we are unique as we meander through life and there are triggers that help us touch the feeling of peace, but I would say to you, peace is not inherent in that place or object or even person that touches us, peace is something that lies within each and every one of us. It stands on its own merit. It resides within and within is where we feel it.

And I would suggest to you that that is precisely why international or world peace has eluded us. Simply put, we are looking for peace in the wrong place. We put a tremendous amount of energy to try to change the outside, without first becoming cognoscente of the power we already have.

We all know and love the saying “peace begins with me”. But do we believe it?

Have we tapped the peace within us, have we consecrated it? Or, have we understood that it consecrates us? Consecrates us…transfers the power of the sacred to us.

Have we understood and accepted the sacred nature of peace? Do we recognize peace as the most powerful tool in our arsenal against ignorance and hatred? 

These are important questions.

One of my favorite quotes is by Audre Lorde, and I am paraphrasing here, “ You can’t dismantle the master’s house, using the master’s tools.”*  We cannot and should not fight fire with fire. If we are to have a legacy of this day and of our lives, why could it not be that we have put down the master’s tools of battle, of anger, of hatred, of ignorance and have instead reached for the greatest tools we have.

It is time we stop giving lip service to peace. Peace does not need us to champion it. Peace needs to be felt and from that feeling, purposeful action can and will arise.

If we have not yet recognized this fundamental point, we need to begin. And today is the best day to take stock of our most valuable gift. Peace. Call upon it. 

We need to stop acting like peace is something elusive and we must allow it to be tangible and real in our lives. 

This year the theme for the International Peace Day is “Actions Towards Peace”. It is directed to each individual, not to a government or any other agency. The request is that we all become Peacemakers.

So now the questions before us are: What are we doing to initiate peace?

And more importantly will we take the time to know what peace truly is?

Doubt is a horrible human disease. It causes us to falter when there is no need to falter. It robs of us life’s sweetness. It is said, no two things can occupy the same space at the same time. Let this be the time that we remove the doubt and replace it with knowing. Let us all begin that journey. Let us all know peace.

Thank you to Unity of Appleton for the opportunity to speak.

  • Full quote of Audre Lorde: “For the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change. Racism and homophobia are real conditions of all our lives in this place and time. I urge each one of us here to reach down into that deep place of knowledge inside herself and touch that terror and loathing of any difference that lives here. See whose face it wears. Then the personal as the political can begin to illuminate all our choices.” 

The Option of the Heart

Hot dry winds are pummeling us and one has to hope that no single flame will ignite the tinderbox we currently reside in. And as I listen to the news it appears that people all over the world are holding their breaths, bowing in prayer or screaming in agony as tinderboxes keep being lit.

The Burmese government is dropping bombs and sniping villages from helicopters, killing mostly women and children in their quest for control. The Philippine government has not had enough of United States imperialism and is happily joining forces again, risking increased saber rattling with China.

And the silent on-lookers could only say, “Wow”, when Tennessee again reminded us that racism is alive and well.

We’ve been persuaded that there only two sides and we need to pick one. And every time we pick one, we wind up with the short stick. But that doesn’t keep us from believing. 

Pundits and experts fill the airwaves with theories and definitions, strategies and complexities designed to dazzle the mind and keep us entertained as we continue on the merry-go round. 

But those wise ones have yet to realize there’s another option. It’s the option of the heart. It’s the power that lies in our mutual humanity and in the recognition that we are one people, one planet. 

I’m long over believing there will be a movement or a leader that will come and save the day. It is up to every one of us to change course.

We’ve engaged in the worn tactics of conquering and war in every aspect of our lives, no wonder violence stalks us.

There’s so much more to life and living, friends. 

There is a third option. Choose.

The Silence of Our Friends

I’ve had the belief for a long time that there are more people willing to pick up a hoe than a gun. In other words, there are more people wanting to live in peace and harmony rather than in violent discord. 

Living in the United States tends to make us doubt that possibility. Another school shooting, another pipeline breach, more felony arrests of nonviolent activists, and fear of LGBTQ+ keeps getting in the way of “live and let live”.

Recently as I participated in Vernon Electric Cooperative’s annual meeting and witnessed the majority of members voting against their own interests and willing to sacrifice democratic control, even I had to ponder the notion that more people want peace than not. I suppose it can be argued that authoritarian rule and control by a few is preferred because then no one has to think too much.  

But the question remains: How does it feel?

How does it feel when you read about another school shooting yet continue to offer thoughts and prayers instead of applying pressure on legislators to change the course of things? How does it feel to know that queer people are being subjected to sub-human treatment? How does it feel to know this country was founded on the deliberate subjugation of People for wealth and pretend it isn’t so? 

I’m not willing to give up my understanding that more people want peace. But I will admit to this: too few are willing to say and to do the necessary things to make living in a peaceful way a reality. 

Martin Luther King spoke great wisdom when he said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. “

Find your voice friends. Before it’s too late.

Choose Peace Over Violence

It seems we blindly follow the trajectory of thoughts and beliefs that have gone before us. Old habits are so deeply ingrained that they are the last to go. 

The recent mass murders in California point again for our need to change. Yes, the numbers and types of guns available are out of control. And yes, there are many people distressed enough to harm themselves and others. We use the label “mental health” to bundle gun violence, suicides, and other anti-social behaviors as we seek solutions to an ever increasing problem.

We dissect behaviors and talk of laws, but seldom do we discuss the roots of violence. We refuse to acknowledge that the isolation many of us experience and the strait jacket / conformity we demand of one another are disrupting our humanity.

They are symptoms of a culture that glorifies masculine toxicity, symptoms of a culture satisfied with hierarchy and status quo. We are a culture who has successfully placed property values over human life. 

We have created systems where defenders of the earth are now intimidated by threat of death and unwarranted imprisonment. SAY HIS NAME: MANUEL TERAN – “Tortuguita”

We have created and accept a police state, where too often law enforcement has become judge, jury and executioner.  SAY HIS NAME: TYRE NICHOLS

And we have created a numbed populace who no longer knows how to identify right from wrong, let alone knows how to respond to the inhumanity enveloping us.

Yet, if we could look honestly at our illness, we would find the antidote is close at hand. We need clarity, courage and conviction to upend the ignorance we face. Those elements are within us and can and must be cultivated.

We can carry on unsuccessfully trying to eradicate symptoms, or we can dust off and remember the source of peace within.

Choose.

What Matters Most

I’ve heard it said that the peace movement is all but dead. Old activists still stand on street corners talking to the wind and wonder why and how people can walk on by and not see the obvious. I have deep respect for their tenacity and effort. Statisticians remind us the young may register but often do not vote. We all wrestle with laying blame as pundits pontificate about human apathy. I think we are all barking up the wrong tree.

While we insist on getting our points across and spend fruitless hours on facts that will be countered by more facts, we have forgotten the secret ingredient. Saint-Exupery said it best in The Little Prince, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” 

We’ve lost our ability to listen to our heart. Driven by all things external, we hope to hit upon some semblance of truth and all the while ignoring the precious gems we carry within us. This ignorance is wide spread.

But here is the greatest secret of all: for there to be peace we must feel peace. Peaceful people do not make war. Peaceful people are engaged in the internal struggle to remain clear in a very confused world. Peaceful people would rather spend time enjoying the fruit of their effort, love and contentment. They don’t waste time creating calamity.

As lies and treachery are being exposed regarding the insurrection on January 6th, and as our current leader meets with a known Saudi assassin and continues to pump millions into weaponry, one has to wonder how did we get here?

The answer is simple: we stopped listening to what matters most. 

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“They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
–Isaiah the Prophet

photo: silkscreen print, Library of Congress, Public Domain

Peace in Ukraine

I’m not an apologist for the United States government, nor am I an apologist for Putin. I am a human being and I fear for the people of Ukraine as they await their fate. 

I wrote these words a few short hours before Putin unleashed a full-scale land, sea and air invasion on Ukraine. 

The conflict began in 2014 with thousands of civilians killed and nearly one and a half million forced to leave their homes. Peace building then took second stage as weaponry poured into the region from the United States and the EU. NATO failed to grasp the urgency of diplomacy and no one believed Putin would launch such an inhuman assault. 

Putin boldly lied referring to this new build up of nearly 200,000 troops on the Ukrainian border as a military exercise. And NATO, with the United States in the lead, miscalculated their ability to reel Putin in by sanctions, while arming the Ukrainians.

The people of the world are led by thinking that is steeped in power and financed by the military industrial complex. All sides weigh the financial risks and the political capital as they make their moves – using the same tactics and the same lies we have followed for decades. And it is women and children who pay the greatest price while profiteers gain.

It’s time we change course. We must become pro-peace. Our strategies must be life affirming. We must take the position that we are all human beings deserving the right to live in safety, with shelter, clean food and water and given the “elbow room” to be the unique individuals that we are. Our choices must be pro-human and pro-earth. 

Peace is our only way forward. Each individual must assess the value of peace. Each must make way for it.  May it prevail. May the Russian people demand it from their leader. May we all demand it.

map of Ukraine under attack – By Homoatrox – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=115503967

The Sovereign Ruler

The development of robotic killing machines is underway. One step beyond drone systems, these robots will take killing entirely out of human hands. Artificial intelligence, sensors and algorithms will determine the victims and the kill. This is not science fiction. About thirty countries are banning this new warfare before it becomes widely available and they’re asking others to do the same.

But we live in the United States, the country with the most to protect: our interference in other countries’ governments, our sale of arms to friends and foe, our willingness to keep the Pentagon and its secrets as top priority. There’s no surprise that the United States is rejecting the request to ban this warfare and is instead asking for rules of engagement and “codes of conduct”.  We are taking the lead in researching killer robots along with Russia, Israel, South Korea and India. Good luck managing death with “codes of conduct”.

The callousness of our ability to kill, to make excuses for the killing and to look away with ease has crept into every aspect of our society. Fear of other, vigilante self-defense and the need for power is crippling us. 

Not surprisingly, we’re being warned to take care of our mental health and while that is a good and worthy sentiment, it’s hard to live in such a desperate world and remain sane.

But we can and we must. There’s nothing normal in this lust for power and the willingness to kill. There is nothing human in spending billions on the Pentagon while people go hungry and homeless.

Someone recently asked me, “How can you know these things and not despair?” The answer is simple: the human heart remains my sovereign ruler and peace needs only to be given a chance. We can do this.

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“The Heart is the emperor, the supreme controller. The Heart is the fire at the center of our being, from which the spirit radiates.” 
-Neijing Suwen (Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine)

The Huangdi Neijing (given the title The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine in one of the latest translations) is an ancient treatise on health and disease said to have been written by the famous Chinese emperor Huangdi around 2600 BC.