Contemplative Prayer
Veterans Shouldn’t Exist…
I wanted to take a second on this Veteran’s Day to thank all of those who have experienced the terror of war on my behalf. No matter how I think about war I always end at the same conclusion… it shouldn’t exist. It’s also difficult to think about war without thinking of the thousands who participate, the individuals. War is done a disservice when we think of it as an ideal. War should never be spoken of out of the context of the individuals involved, some who will no doubt lose their lives.
Of all the horrors of the world, war is the worst. On the surface, why it occurs can be explaine
d. However, war will never be understood, never be made sense of. At its ground level, war is mass murder.
War occurs for many reasons, but the most frequent seems to be a differing of beliefs. Personal A thinks one way while Person B thinks another. Is this all the humanity has to show for itself, a refusal to respect what others believe? How am I supposed to learn from my neighbor when the second he disagrees with me I go to war with him?
The problem however, is that banging the “make love not war” drum accounts to nothing because war is already here, it has already been chosen. The solution to war doesn’t equate to pushing peace… the solution to war lies with the individual. In my psychology class we are taught that groups don’t learn, individuals learn. Seems that all the individuals around me have learned war… I just want to learn peace.
If the solution for war starts and ends with the individual I wonder how I participate? How often do I make war with those around me through jealousy, lies, gossip, and selfishness.
For all of those who are Veteran’s, I sincerely thank you for all you’ve done, but I wish you didn’t have to exist. For all of those I have made war with… I’m sorry.
See ya,
Chase Brumfield