Dreaming of a War-proof World

Spiritually Speaking

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! War has
been declared in Pennellville! A full-scale
war is being waged at my house. The enemy
army crept in and caught me by surprise. The
house was completely taken over before I caught
sight of a single enemy combatant. A small
party of guerilla fighters attacked me as I was
going to bed last Wednesday night. War was
immediately and officially declared. The enemy
army was winning.

I have fought this particular army before. I win
some major battles and send their decimated
troops into all out retreat. But they are sneaky
and persistent. They will always be on hand
ready to launch another invasion. I can temporarily
defeat them but victory celebrations are unwarranted.
Constant vigilance is essential.

Living in a state of war is physically exhausting and
spiritually demanding. I am a peacemaker by calling
and by nature. Waging war is work and stirs up
troubling spiritual questions for which I have no
answers. I do not like to kill or destroy. I hate
having to draw up battle plans. I resent the time spent
carrying them out. Nonetheless, I must kill. I must
have an organized plan for destruction. I must
follow through. In war, the basic choice is: kill or
be killed. All things considered, I prefer to stay alive.

There are people around the world who live with this
choice every moment of every day. There are folks
dying daily – some for failing to make this choice,
others because their enemy made the choice more
quickly. For those we call our enemies must make
the same choice: to kill or to be killed. When they
choose life, it means we die.
We’ve reached a milestone in Iraq. We have now
lost over 2500 soldiers. The number of civilian lives
lost is more than ten times that many. We also have
soldiers dying in Afghanistan. A few years back in
Kosovo, neighbors turned on neighbors. They began
to hate and kill each other overnight. More years back
in Rwanda, friends committed atrocities like cutting off
arms and legs – or burning former friends alive. We
tuned into the nightly news and listened as the conflicts
escalated daily and the number of casualties mounted.
There is always somewhere in the world where war
is being waged. Reasonable people have easily become
unruly mobs throughout human history.

For a fortunate few in this world, fighting to the death
will never be part of their reality. Don’t we all dream
of a world where our children will never have to decide
whether to kill or be killed? I suspect that we all have
this dream. I suspect that all the parents in Kosovo and
Rwanda had that dream too. It did not stop them from
hating and hurting in horrible ways.

Our human feelings can turn on a dime. It is hard to
hold out for peace and understanding when all around
are at war. We can easily be swept up into the conflict
and find ourselves doing things more hateful and
hurtful than we ever imagined. Sometimes we are
forced to fight because in our heart of hearts we know
it is the right and noble thing to do. Sometimes we
fight because in our heart of hearts we fear that
standing alone on our principles will get us killed.
Sometimes we fight because our heart gets filled with
a rage for revenge. Hatred overwhelms all love.
Killing seems right and justified.

Soldiers are trained to ignore or repress the troubling
emotions and spiritual questions that killing stirs up.
Their loyalty to God and country and their unit is
equated with being able to kill before being killed.
Heroes and heroines alike swallow their fear of death
and fight to keep themselves and their unit alive.
They have long since answered the question of
whether or not taking a human life is ever justified.
It is. And they are trained and equipped to do it.

Every person who dies in battle leaves a hole in loved
one’s lives and hurt in many hearts. For every body
wounded in battle, there is also a wounded soul. Some
wounds will heal over time. Others will never heal.
wage every war with the hope of winning.

I am now winning the war at my house. The fleas
are losing and dying by the thousands – men, women
and children. I show no mercy. My cat (an indoor
cat so I thought I was safe from these pesky invaders)
has received medical treatment. The enemy can no
longer cause her harm. It has been over a week since
I have been attacked. My wounds will heal. I will
continue to bomb and spray for at least two more
months until I am convinced that the enemy forces
have completely withdrawn. I will not underestimate
their devious ways. They are able to go underground
where they remain undefeated and unnoticed. Let an
unprotected dog or cat walk by and a new invasion
will be launched.

I wish the world’s conflicts could be as easily remedied
as my war with the fleas. I wish those who are dying
each day in conflicts around the world were creatures
as dispensable and disposable as fleas. I wish that
human beings, like fleas, were hard to kill – incredibly
resilient and persistent. From the fleas’ perspective,
they probably wish that human beings were more
tolerant of home invasions and more willing to share
their space on this planet peacefully, without the
need to wage a full-scale war. For my part, however,
I will continue to pray for flea-proof homes and a
war-proof world.