Peace On Earth
Posted on 31 December 2009
It’s not going to happen here in the United States – peace – not in this coming year, not in my lifetime. I have to face the fact that no matter how many well-meaning cards I receive embossed with “peace,” I still have a President, much lauded, for delivering one of the more forceful war-arguments ever as he picked up his ironic Peace Prize.
I have to face it that we are about to be delivered one of the more miserable Health Care giveaways imaginable, except if you compare it with the miserable giveaways, (hence massive bonuses and stock profits) already delivered to the richest and most cruel among us on Wall Street.
I have to face that not one substantive financial reform has been put into place; that what happened two Octobers ago will happen again; that it will be far worse this time because there won’t be enough in our treasury for billionaire safety nets — watch how “too big” fails. And I have to face the fact that global warming will continue unabated.
I will have to face all of this because, frankly, it’s the only way to go – to see the truth – always – face the truth – then face another truth, which is that nothing good happens over night, or even in a single lifetime or – in many cases – many lifetimes.
Bad stuff happen fast. Sure. Smash two World Trade Towers in a minute. Shock and awe a Third World Country in a week. March into Afghanistan with 30,000 new troops. Then what?
Exactly. Good stuff takes time. Lots of it. Plus patience. And wisdom.
For instance getting rid of legalized slavery (even as we now face economic slavery) or admitting that women have equal rights (even as we confront the grotesque sex trade) or really understanding that the world is round and infinitely complex and deserving near worship or that the germ theory is correct and then acting on it.
Real change (not the instantaneous kind in commercials or war) takes time and I want in on that change, however small my part.
So I’ll take whatever excuse of a Health Care Bill they come up with and keep right on attacking (peacefully). I’ll take the next stock market crash (sadly) when the rich guys don’t get away with it because there’s nothing left in our treasury. I’ll take the loss in Afghanistan, the collapse in Iraq (and the collapse in Iran too).
I’ll take it all and keep right on moving – one little ant doing his little bit among six billion other ants, because one day, you son’s of bitches who talk peace and deliver war, who talk health and deliver illness, who talk good and do bad – some day, mother f–ckers there will be peace on this planet – real peace – because time, real time, is on the side of evolution.
6 responses to Peace On Earth
When I read your marvelous writing it was as if you had read what was in me. It is exactly how I feel but didn’t know how to say it. This piece touched me deeply and I feel united in a oneness with it. I am in awe! This states how I feel and how I recognize what is happening to us and with us. Thanks for writing this.
Thank you.
“The world is round and infinitely complex and deserving near worship”
“Good stuff takes time. Lots of it. Plus patience. And wisdom.”
“Real time, is on the side of evolution.”
Fundamental truths concealed amidst the frustration and anger of your post. Hope is alive and well inside you and inside each of us.
Maybe it’s all about finding that peace within oneself in the face of all the external turmoil. And if each individual(ok, even a mere handful of us for starters) worked on this inner process, it could start a chain. And real time could work in our favor.
This comment on your earlier post is worth another look in this context.
http://stephengyllenhaal.net/tyranny-and-carl-jung/#comments
I quote a part:
“It always amazed me that no matter how rough the water was on the surface, it was completely still at the bottom. There’s a still point down there; and I’d go there to find it. In the constant shifting and uncertainty of our world, it was a kind of a haven.
“I think that’s what “the point” is: to find THAT point. T.S. Eliot called it “The still point in a turning world.” It’s the point at which we touch base with our essence –not just with out individual selves but with our common humanity, our shared archetypes, our primordial dances of memory.
“Beyond the shifting changes that take place on the surface–beyond the currents of politics or the eddies of culture, important as they are–it’s there, still and serene; and when we touch base with it, it’s as if we touched bedrock. Somehow it brings peace, and it feeds us.”
So, as you ask “What’s the Point?” may you reach for that “still point” and find it. That’s my wish for you and all of us for 2010. Good luck with everything Stephen and Happy New Year!
And Happy New Year to you as well. “New” perhaps being the most important word…
that’s good. definately a tad depressing, but i’m with you. we gotta hold on tight and forge ahead.
I accept your frustration in your New Year’s Eve expounder. I personally question the concept of idealism over pragmatism. God knows we all dream of “peace”. But — has there ever been true peace on earth? Man has been in conflict with man probably since the Stone Age. It’s difficult to look back at history and find a time when someone was not a war with someone else. Only now, there is more population, more technology, and more (dare I say it?) media coverage. I am not saying that the U.S. of A. is necessarily perpetuating this, but there are countries who have been a war practically forever. It is said that human nature doesn’t change. Perhaps that is our biggest enemy. Try to have a Happy New Year, Stephen — we’re all in the same boat.