What are We Fighting For?

Fear of lack of resources created hoarding of resources (toilet paper is a great example of hoarding in these times), created defending of the resources hoarded, including land. Tribes drew lines in the earth defining territories to defend and conquer. We have not evolved from this. We still have lines drawn in the earth, nation states. We defend and conquer – the lines on the map change and the names change, even within a lifetime. We exalt leaders and warriors. We identify with the name we have given our land or territory, creating division among humans. I am Irish. I am Japanese. I am African-American, etc. .We do not want others not of our "tribe" to cross our lines. These imaginary lines that are so real to us have caused great division among the human race. The lines served to minimize war, but the demarcations serve to divide … and we need to unite.

We hear so much on the news of wars and tribal aggression to the point of brutality and cruelty. Many innocents are caught in the political machinations of war. Physical bodies are lost, fear reigns. There is torture of bodies, as well as of the earth. It is as if we have risen against our creator, our Mother, and giver of life to fight one another … and for what purpose? For a piece of land? For an ideology? For access to a resource? For power over others? To defend what we or another has? It makes no sense. War is insane.

In an age of battle where warriors are esteemed, leaders emerge and are honored and valued. What becomes of a mother? She says good bye to her sons, at times to her daughters, and sends them off to die for a cause. War is a mother’s heartbreak, but war is where men prove their courage. War unites tribes. War creates the illusion of productivity as all work for the cause. All are employed in defeating the “enemy.” But war in its very nature of battles creates discord among men. Ultimately it wastes resources and lives.

Photo byNeil ThomasonUnsplash

Courage is as much a mother saying good bye to her children knowing she may never see them again on this earth as it is about facing death and continuing the battle, sacrificing one’s life for one’s companions in the fight.

They say we must fight evil. Where did this evil come from? Can we uncover the root and resolve the conflict through nonviolent methods? We are a bloodthirsty people whose first response to conflict is physical aggression. This response is honored. Anything less is perceived as weakness.

Imagine a world where we all live to serve God and our neighbor, where we have no fear about having enough resources in order to sustain our life and the lives of our children; a world where bodies work together with spirit to serve. Where appetites do not rule, but the desire for God is within each human heart. We do not need to conquer our bodies, but place our physical appetites underneath the will that is united with the Will of God.

How do we get there? By one soul at a time choosing love over fear, choosing to serve over being served.