Can we call a truce here? Can we drop petty politics long enough to examine our place in the world-scheme at this time? Can we offer up a month of stillness in our mundane lives, in our community, in order to take care of larger needs? Larger things? Can we cancel meetings, stay home from work, make time to pray, take time to cherish what may be the last moments of life as we know it?
I grew up with a distinct dread of The End of the World. We'veÑseemingly narrowlyÑescaped this fate so many times. Each time the threat seems to loom larger, become more real, more plausible, more frightening. Will we be lucky enough this time to come through it? Will we be lucky enough to emerge on some barely-imaginable other side of the possible catastrophe that lies ahead?
Who will save the world? Who will stop, listen, and act in accordance with necessity?
I am not arrogant enough to think I know what is right. I can only go with my gut, and say that I feel the terror of the innocent people who have died, are dying, will die. I can feel the edge of the terror a mother must feel watching her child starve to death. I can taste the adrenaline-laced bile in my own throat that must rise as air-raid sirens rend the air.
Why do we continue to fight? Here. Between people. Between countries. Between races. Between religions. There are no good guys. There are no bad guys. It's not that clear-cut in real life, folks! There is only love and the absence of it. There is only compassion and heartlessness. No one is perfect all of the time. Some err further from the path of the heart than others. More often than not, it is because of misguided beliefs.
The WTC was blown up because someone wanted to make a point. Maybe they wanted to slake the great beast. Maybe they were angry that the U.S. is so invested in Middle Eastern politics. Maybe they were poor and hungry and had nothing to lose. Maybe they had everything to lose, and did what they did because they thought they were on the righteous path.
How is it so different for us to bomb Afghanistan?
Let's look at some other maybes: Maybe they were not connected to bin Laden. Maybe they had no ties to Afghanistan. Maybe the government knows less than they'd like us to believe. Maybe they know more.
Laws that infringe on our civil liberties are already being enacted, and acted upon. How far am I from the category of "known threat"? How far are you?
If I hear one more time the phrase "Life must go on," I think I'll cry. Or lay down exhausted, on the spot, and refuse to get up again. Or stand in front of vehicles and ask questions and disallow movement for a moment or two.
How many times must we play this nasty game of "might equals right"? How many times shall we send brothers, sons, lovers, fathers off to war to kill other brothers, sons, lovers, fathers? How many "innocent" lives must be offered up? And are any but the children truly innocent? We all have blood on our hands.
Question authority. Question the media. Question our western, imperialistic biases. Question the rushing, the efficiency. Question your heart. Your gut. Your ears. Your friends. Slow down. Take a breath. Stand still. Cry. And don't let life just go on. Please, do something out of the ordinary!
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2001
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited