[2 years ago]
September 29, 2016
The same week in which I again became a Great-Uncle, 100 children were killed in a war in Syria. This is my letter to the children, all of them:
There are many things that I would like to say to you today. Sometimes I think there are so many things that I choose not to say anything at all because it seems overwhelming to know where to start, so much seems so painfully out of place in our country and in our world. Gods vision of us all living together happily seems so difficult to hope for or participate in right now.
Also, perhaps like many of your parents and teachers, I fear exposing you to some of the more dark and disturbing realities, things I don't want you to see or have to deal with until you are older and more capable of managing your fears and your power. Nevertheless, with much dismay and some despair, I see how much you are witness to so long before you are ready, even while you are still forming a picture of life and the world, you see and hear things that you should not. Earth and Heaven were never meant to be places where people hurt each other.
The screens of your life bring so much to you, don't they? All kinds of images and messages from all over the world. Mostly now you may be watching shows, talking and playing with your friends the simple games that kids play. But I fear that soon enough these same gadgets will be bringing you images and messages that can be quite harsh and terribly difficult to understand. Even if you ask me about them, so many circumstances of violence and poverty and dangers to the environment, I feel as though I am hardly able to sort them out myself though I have studied about these things for many years.
So I want to do my best for all of you, you see, even though I'm not sure of how it may help or not. The things I talk about will raise questions and so I hope to keep talking together so that all of the questions can be heard and addressed over time. Think of it as a project we engage together.
As I do this now as carefully as I can and as genuinely as possible, I recommend you do the same in your life too, as often as you can for your own happiness and for the healing of the whole world.
We Get
What We
Do
with
What Is Given
These are just a few words that make up a poem, of sorts. But if you read them carefully the poem means different things. It makes me think of two things:
1) What I do with the circumstances I am in is up to me and can greatly affect what I get out of life.
2) I can only do what I can with what I am given and we are not all given the same "stuff."
Most of the people I know usually emphasize the first one or the second, but rarely both.
People are born into all kinds of different circumstances. Some are poor and hardly have enough to eat. Some have everything they need and an excess of resources that expands the list of choices they have. Many of us in America, for example, grow up rather comfortably. We get to choose our favorite stores and restaurants, our many toys and outfits. But many in our same country do not have those choices. Their parents have less money to care for them, or maybe there is only one parent sometimes. Sometimes their parents also grew up in families that struggled to find opportunities for work and an equal chance to succeed because of their race or ethnicity or their physical makeup.
Adults in America argue about why this is the case. They argue about how to fix these unfair circumstances with so many having so much and so many having so little. They say "Many of the poor just don't want to work." They say "Give someone a job and they will flourish." So who's right and who's wrong? I am not always ready to say so easily. It deals with many factors, especially something called economics which we will talk about next time [although it is pretty complicated.]
But here's what I do know. Those who start off with less have a much harder time than those who start off with more. This is why those who are rich are more than likely to stay rich and why those who are poor are more than likely going to stay poor. It's like two people starting a race; one out way ahead and the other way behind.
Around the world it is worse. There are rich and powerful nations and there are poor and vulnerable nations. The more powerful use up most of the resources around the globe and those who are poor are left with far less than they need to prosper. When they trade with each other it is always unfair. Imagine having only rice to trade with at lunchtime. Despite God's creating this world with more than enough to go around, over many centuries those who have accumulated most of the wealth and power have created tragic conditions of scarcity. Because they have taken too much, millions of people don't have nearly enough. People are forced to live in fear of not being able to meet their basic needs. Because America and its friends have far more power and natural resources, much of the world is struggling and the adults who are struggling are very angry. Some of the anger is against their nearby neighbors or even people within their own country. They see their children suffering and they want it to stop so they use violence. Other adults may join them because they are hurting terribly for other reasons we do not always understand. But you need to know that there are many, many people who do not like us for the reasons I'm talking about. Some have stopped fighting with each other in order to start fighting with us.
So keep in mind, there are children like you who only have rice and water when it is available. In fact, it can be so bad that some of them would be happy to come here and to live as "a poor American" instead of struggle where they are. Though it is very dangerous and some die on their way here, some of these people try to walk to America from Mexico and are turned away. Others can only dream of escaping the place they are because it is dangerous and there is horrible fighting.
They live in violent places where the adults have allowed their anger to cause them to hurt one another, even the children.
And -- I have to tell you my dear ones -- this is where it gets so difficult for me. I do not want you to be afraid of war and fighting. But I do want you to know that the world has been hurt by human beings. We have hurt each other greatly over many years and we have hurt the earth.
At your young age it is not too early to start caring about what hurts other people. When you grow old enough to begin solving the worlds challenges [this is not impossible] with each other, it will be good for you to remember how much pain people have experienced because of these kinds of unfairness.
What Can You Do Now?
You are not too young to pray for peace and for healing between all people who are fighting and killing in the name of their special causes, which are never truly religious or have anything to do with God and Love, not ever.
You can begin the practice of careful listening which is not easy to do whether you are old or young. When we listen to other people and truly hear what hurts them, we can begin to think of ways of helping one another and living together more comfortably as everyone's needs are met.
You can begin practicing sharing and being generous. The more you have to share and give, the better. Our perfect example of this is God who gives and gives and gives so much to everyone. God doesn't play favorites and neither should we. If we have taken too much we should start to give it back, we should include the interests of everyone when we make decisions as a global community. You can begin trying to cooperate with your friends and classmates. But you have to want to -- deep down believing that this will make an important difference. Indeed -- it will.
God has always had a serious interest in our involvement in shaping and caring for the entire creation and all who live within it. From the very beginning God invited us and gave us the responsibility to extend this care as those living in a garden. This garden will again be perfect some day and you and I can begin to make that happen right in the here and now.
I look forward to talking with you more later about this. That's probably enough for today.
-- -- --
October 3, 2016
A 60 minutes interview entitled The New Cold War disclosed a willingness on the part of Russia and the US [military officials] to use nuclear weapons in a limited capacity should they deem it necessary, opening up the possibility for these weapons to be used for specific and current strategic initiatives. Fear of an escalation that could end in the annihilation of millions no longer prohibits either from seeing nuclear weapons as merely one part of a complete arsenal. Before the interview played online an advertisement roared on the screen for a violent videogame rated for mature audiences only. Does CBS know this?
This makes me want to talk with the children.
Do you know how much power you have? The things that you say and do can really affect other people. No doubt, you know how much another persons words and actions can mean to you. We have all been hurt at some point and we have all made others hurt at some point. We are vulnerable and we are powerful.
Do you know why the main religions all over the world agree when they say: Do Not Kill? Do not steal? Do not lie? It is because most human beings have learned to cherish life and enjoy honest and trusting relationships. Truly religious people know that basic respect for everyone is the best way to live peaceably and happily.
Still, there have been many wars, as you will learn about in school. How on earth could this happen?
First of all, don't think I'm going to tell you in just a few paragraphs. It is something that people have been concerned about for as long as people have been talking to each other about anything.
I think the best place to start is right where you are. If you have brothers and sisters something tells me you may have had an argument with them recently. You or they had an opportunity to cooperate or share or work together and chose not to. I know, I know... you think you had a good reason and when you told them that good reason they still didn't understand you or listen. Or maybe one of you were jealous or wanted something the other had so badly that it made you act up and cause trouble on purpose even while you know you are lying about it.
See how it all starts? We start feeling cheated and not loved enough. We begin doing whatever we want without worrying how it will affect the other person. In fact, it takes effort to think about other people on purpose doesn't it? Everybody likes their freedom to do what they want. But when doing that hurts another person or means they can't have what they really need to be happy and fulfilled, then that's a different story isn't it?
You hear about nations in the world. These have taken shape over centuries and many times how much land and resources each nation has has been the result of much fighting and many people dying. Unfortunately, this means that most of what you learn about in history class will be what the wars were and who fought them and who won. Some people even say that what we call history is the story that is told by people who have been victorious. Sadly there is much truth to that.
But as we continue talking, I guess I'd like to have it clear up front that war and killing were never the intention of God no matter who you ask who is truly religious. In fact, most would tell you about God as a creator of the world and of the human family. At the beginning everything was as it was supposed to be and there was plenty enough to go around just like today. The only problem is as the family grew some started to want what the other one had and vice versa and so they became afraid of each other and started finding ways to defend their territory and their stuff. Sometimes they would steal from each other or other clans and groups of people. Over time this became a very treacherous undertaking -- building up treasure and weapons to be powerful. Some of the nations that formed wanted to grow and grow until other kinds of people didn't exist at all. It causes me a lot of sorrow to tell you that this same tendency exists today and that is why you hear about wars and a kind of war that is called terrorism.
As I mentioned last time, there are many people who have experienced tremendous pain and who have lost brothers and fathers and mothers and sisters -- many of them were innocent women and children who were simply in a territory or near resources that were valuable. Vengeance -- a desire for revenge, to hurt the one who hurts you, remains one of the strongest motivations for war and terrorism around the world today. Acts of war are also recognized and people talk publicly about who they hate and why. They often cite experiences where many innocent people have died because of some other group or nations violence. Time goes by and different groups keep wanting to pay back the other group for the pain they caused. And it goes on and on.
Becoming aware of these things can be scary. But once again I want you to remember that most of the people on earth have an idea about God's beautiful creation and all God's intentions to see us flourish together as one human family where all our needs are met and we all live happily together for ever. Millions and millions of people have this same vision of life -- its origins, its ultimate destiny. This is the vision that I invite you to think about most and first and often. I want to ask you please to dream about paradise, dream about the garden of Eden, dream about heaven -- use your imagination routinely to show yourself and one another what it can look like. And please do not ever say that there's not enough on the earth for the members of the human family, it is false and some need to lie about that to keep their power to keep others in fear. And please do not ever say that everyone is bad so this is just how bad people end up living.
War is not necessary. Killing is not necessary. Pray for heaven to come to earth and do everything you can to be a sharing, honest and loving person.
If there is war between you and your brother or sister, make it stop so that you can begin practicing how peace is made. Learn to love human beings, every single one. Make it your life's most favorite and famous achievement. I love you and I will pray for you as you do this -- working hard day by day with God. Do not wait for God to do the sharing and caring that this world needs. It starts with you. Talk to you later.
