I was a soldier.
Politics and religion, belief and emotion, passion and reaction, are responsible in many ways for and in their incomprehensible role of the stability in Earth; as it spins and wobbles ever so uncaring of any of those things, sustaining us all without reproach. Today I write this as a reaction to a person’s voice I heard over the news. A reaction that, as all others ever to occur, stems from some sort of belief; that of having been a soldier in this case. As I paraphrase, I feel my heart shrivel in my chest, a pain derived of sadness…. The statement, on the steps of a long ago fought battle, by soldiers whose long desire of a world without pain and suffering for those we love has not come to fruition. A world where their fought-for dreams remain alive and unfulfilled today.
Truth may be divisive, yet so defining. My truth, having lost comrades in the wars I fought in, is a sad one. My truth today stems from the desire never to see a person die for the case of irrationality, a case finally made by the very humans we give power over our lives and thoughts to. I love my country, so much so that I would sacrifice not only my time and life, and as I did not know then, my mental health as well. These would have been a fair trade should they have fulfilled their purpose. I say that with shame, knowing that when a side wins another must not, which serves as proof of the instability that permeates to all of the lives in this globe, which unfairly harbors all of those wins and losses.
To the living, I wholeheartedly hope for peace and love to be the defining force that endures in all of your efforts to live a life as you believe it to be fair to others; understanding that those of opposing believes too want the same for their own, and ultimately shows us without conceit of system, that we all collectively hope for the same (though through a different framework). Some parents raise their children to fight and never to turn a cheek to an aggressor whom may take and take when allowed. Some parents raise their children to be humble, to understand that the pain others suffer pushes them to commit acts that culminate in a type of loathing which rules their lives under the guise of power-over-their-lives. Some parents instill other belief systems in their children. Children are surely impacted by all which they see and hear, experience and do. Such strong and compelling reasons drive those styles of parenting, at times unequivocal and unrelenting; usually behind a self-imposed wall by the parent whose job is to protect their children in the best way possible, as to not let what is beyond the veil of that wall to befall them too.
The nature of living shouldn’t be this or that. But then, is there a right or a wrong nature? I suppose that is all there is to it, there is no right or wrong answer. The nature of all things perhaps should not be a nature of the human condition. We contemplate the dogma we allow into our lives to become more than a dogma and exist in a realm of wholesome truth without doubt. As long as that was the only inconvenience we could perhaps overcome. Presumably we all know what peace is. I do wonder though… What is peace to animals? What is peace to the ocean? What is peace to humans? What is peace? After all, I must consider that there is an end to the premise in its meaning.
Carl Sagan, among many before and after him, spoke with passion about the nature of the universe in relation to this “pale blue dot” where so many live and die under some premise they deem compelling. A universe that no matter how long you believe it to have been created, harbors an Earth which no matter what shape you believe it to be, is the only home we have. Parents often teach their children to be tidy, not to have a messy room, or perhaps leave the table in disarray.
Today we all partake in the untidiness of Earth. Not long ago, the beating of a person in the streets bore the statement “can’t we all just get along”. While what drove the sentiment may have been brutally convincing, it should never have happened and certainly not again.
In a society mired in the throes of an echo of a system they follow or admire, I beg us all to tidy up a little bit.
