Remembering

Especially on RD, I try to remember the dishonesty of war.

I don’t believe my choice belittles the sacrifice and suffering of those good-hearted and noble citizens choosing to enlist. I don’t believe it challenges their intelligence, integrity, or motives. I don’t believe it shows a lack of gratitude for the sacrifice so many have made. I don’t believe I am disrespecting those in my family who have experienced war. I don’t believe it is unpatriotic or subversive. I do not think that it requires elimination of our forces. I don’t believe this reflection makes us vulnerable.

I am not being naive.

I simply think, as humanity, we can do better. 

To really honour those who have given so much, we should try to do better. If we truly appreciate their loss, it should become unthinkable to allow such losses to ever happen again. To truly remember the horror, pain, suffering, and loss, is to try harder than ever to ensure it doesn’t happen again. It is inevitable that such pain and loss will be experienced by our children unless we are lead but such sacrifice to learn, and grow, and become better.

To remember should be the commitment to end all war, forever.

This is no different than curing disease. This no different than the invention of the seatbelt. The idea of vaccinations. The advancement of science. The new efficiencies in the economy. Better nutrition. Better education. The pursuit of the greater good.

As beings, are we not committed to making tomorrow better than today? Shouldn’t we be diligent in our efforts to make the world better for the next generation? Isn’t our motivation for such, the remembering of previous suffering? 

Why do we allow war to continue?

I believe in my heart that humans are better than this.

I believe in my heart that humans are not naturally warring. We are gentle beings seeking peace. That those who have enlisted for war have been convinced that it is the only answer to others, evil others, who would take away their freedom and peace, is the proof of the dishonesty.

Years and years after wars have ended and lines on maps have changed, and wealth has changed hands, and oligarchs have been empowered, and arms manufacturers have been enriched, our historians tell us the truth of why we went to war. Seldom is it what the soldiers were told at the time. Seldom was freedom at risk. Seldom would anyone have agreed to pick up arms had they been told the truth. 

The first casualty of war is truth. But truth always comes out. The bigger the war, the longer it takes.

Seldom did the decision makers, those inciting war, those declaring war, suffer the losses we remember on November 11th. Seldom did those who profited from war suffer the losses that we pause and remember today. 

The kinds of losses we honour today. 

The kinds of losses we should never allow again.

There are many ways to solve disagreement. There is no way to solve greed.

The only way to have an enemy, is to be an enemy.

War is madness. We are better than this.

Today I remember the dishonesty of war.

I choose something better.

Control

Consider Power.

As you consider, examine your emotions.

Power can be strong, yet there is fear.

Power requires emotion to motivate.

Power reaches, yet there are limits to that reach.

What puts limits on power’s reach?

Power is not a thing to be amassed.

It is not an office to be pursued.

Power is not money.

Power is not armaments.

Power is not position.

Power lies not in the one that would use power.

You cannot bribe one who cares not for money.

You cannot threaten one who is not afraid to die.

You cannot hold office forever, if the people remember they put you there.

All of the power that anyone would ever use to control, influence, or seduce you, lies in your experience of your own needs.

The source of all power is some form of need.

The depth of the power is the depth of the need.

Power targets choice.

Choice resides in your mind.

Choice never goes away, though the power attempts to take it from you. 

Although the mechanisms of power may appear outside you, that power only exists in your mind.

Power, exerted over others, is experienced within their mind as control, influence or seduction.

Power attempts to control, influence, or seduce your choice by creating an emotional response within your mind.

If you can see past that emotion, you are free from the power and choice remains.

There is always Choice.

Peace.

Consider Peace.

What is Peace?

Peace is quiet.

Peace is calm.

Peace is without movement. But is not stationary. It moves outward from its source.

Peace shines.

Peace is noticeable by its contrast to the disturbances of life.

Peace ignores.

Peace allows. 

Peace forgives.

Peace knows that others will act upon, and express, their emotions. 

Peace knows that it can only be disturbed by the thoughts of the one that holds it. So, Peace holds firm, knowing that it cannot be threatened, except with permission.

Where does Peace exist?

It begins in the mind of one.

A quiet, calm, and accepting mind.

A mind that chooses not to be disturbed.

A mind that chooses to allow and forgive.

A mind that disregards the events around it, as those events are less important than the peaceful state within.

How does peace extend?

Peace moves outward from the mind of the one, into the world of the others. Perceived as calm and quiet and allowing. Differing from that which may perceived as normal. 

Sometimes this expression of Peace is recognized as Peace. 

Sometimes it is misunderstood, as it disturbs the others from their activity, grabbing their attention and provoking them. It can aggravate those who do not value Peace in the same way. Or in that moment.

Peace can disturb the minds of those who have other intentions. 

Peace can be offered.

That would be done through forgiveness and compassion.

It might then exist in the mind of the forgiver.

It may not yet exist in the mind of the forgiven.

Peace can be invited.

That would be done by calming emotion, and ceasing judgment, and accepting.

It might then only exist in the mind of the accepter.

It might not yet exist in the mind of the accepted.

Sometimes, Peace can be recognized for what it is. When recognized it can be an attractive alternative to one's present state.

Hence, Peace can only exist in the mind of one who desires it and releases that which needs releasing. Accepts that which needs accepting. And calms that which needs calming.

Peace can only exist in the mind that values it and seeks it.

But one can feel the Peace in others.

 

Peace cannot be imposed. 

That would not be peace. That is control. 

Peace allows that which is not Peace, but remains Peaceful.

Control allows very little.

That leads to the opposite of Peace.