Not in my name!
If you are trying to live more consciously and make sense of the world, this is a particularly hard time, what with war between Russia and Ukraine, war between Israel and Hamas, and countless other conflicts around the world, with unspeakable violence continuously in our faces thanks to the modern wonders of television, radio and social media.
But among the angry voices there are glimmers of consciousness, for example the elderly Israeli woman who’d been taken hostage by Hamas and was recently returned to Israel. As she was being handed over, just for a brief moment she took the hand of her captor and said simply to him, “shalom” (peace be with you).
A couple of weeks earlier there was an interview I heard with another Israeli woman. She lived on a kibbutz very near the border with Gaza and her son had been murdered in the initial invasion by Hamas. The interviewer asked her if she was angry and wanted revenge. Though she was clearly distraught and grieving she said no, she didn’t want any more people to be killed, especially not in revenge for her bereavement. “Not in my name,” she said
At last two voices of sanity among the madness of our violent world!
The question that keeps haunting me, that keeps coming back, is, how do we end this? When will it end? It doesn’t matter what your religion or beliefs are, how will we ever manage to live together with our neighbours in peace and harmony?
Albert Einstein correctly pointed out that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. Israel and many different Arab and Palestinian factions have crossed swords in violent confrontations so many times over the years you would have thought both sides would have learned by now that the path of violence leads to nowhere. As I have said before, the only people who benefit from war are the armaments manufacturers and the undertakers, so it’s clear that violent confrontation is not going to work.
Negotiations between Governments takes many years and usually produces at best temporary solutions, all of which turn out to be unsatisfactory in the long run. So what’s left?
We have to put some conscious awareness around this.
The root problem, the reasons why conflict repeatedly occurs, is because there are many inflated egos around the world and little humility.
What we need is an outbreak of compassion, as demonstrated by the two women mentioned earlier. Someone needs to point out that we are all brothers and sisters and we should use our energy looking after each other properly and helping each other to flower and prosper. To regard the whole world as one community.
You probably believe that’s a pipe dream and it can never happen, but what alternative is there? I can’t think of any other way to stop the bloodshed and commence the healing.
The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu had the right idea with his Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His example should be an inspiration to us all. Hatred only begets more hatred and violence only begets more violence.
There is a longing for peace in the world – I can feel it. If we could only put aside our fears, admit that, and allow the natural compassion and forgiveness that resides within us all to arise, what a wonderful environment we could create for us all.
This is huge and it’s all of our responsibility. As John Lennon reminded us, “war is over, if we want it”. Let’s really want it, let’s say no to war and bloodshed, let’s say not in my name, let’s say yes to love and compassion and healing, let’s “give peace a chance”.