The fine art of eggshell walking and other distinctions...
What an unusual week this has been. For instance, we finally got to celebrate Christmas last night and now I can take down the increasingly dusty decorations and pack them away for another year. It’s time once again to adjust to a new year and the fresh start which that represents. I still can’t believe we’re already five years into the new century. I have to laugh when I think of how so many people got stressed out over Y2K and now no one even remembers. So far the current year has not brought a great deal of positive news with it, either on a global scale or on a personal level either. In fact, it seems as if the whole world is falling apart faster than you can say two thousand five...
Her Sweetness was over with my dad last night, joining us and the two sonnies for “the Christmas that almost didn’t happen” and then we spoke on the phone again today. In fact, we spoke congenially and even made some plans without taking on shrapnel. I don’t know if this means that she has mellowed or if it means that I’m getting better about not pushing the “hot” buttons. We actually had some peace between us and it started me thinking…
For years, when asked what I wanted for a gift, I’d say “I’d like to have world peace.” I thought I had a concept of what that would be, but upon closer introspection I have come to realize that not only is world peace a fuzzy concept but it’s probably impossible. Human beings are not by nature peaceful creatures anymore than say, dogs, lions, deer, bears, goats, cats, whathaveyou… Whether human or animal, survival of the fittest seems to be the operative principle.
What does peace mean to you? Consider for a moment... Does it mean lack of competition or complete compromise? Does it mean one person giving in and abandoning his or her principles to keep up the status quo? Should it mean complete balance but forfeiture of “self?” Is it a static concept? How peaceful would a dynamic concept be? At some point, someone is going to want to exert a bit more will and when that happens the peaceful dynamic goes out the window.
As long as there are two people left, one of them is going to be unhappy at least part of the time and if one person is unhappy, there is no peace. Think of the term “king of the hill and there you have the nature of mankind. Let’s face it, we all want to be “the one…” You can evidence this by watching kids in the sandbox or on the playground. The truth is we mature, sure…but that little kid is still in there beating his or her little chest and trying to prevail. We never get much farther than that, just more accomplished…
For instance, at least one of you reading this is likely to be offended by my use of the words mankind and king(of the hill). Ergo, obliteration of peace. So then, would peace be defined as tolerance? If that’s the criteria we’re even farther away from having peace on earth than I would have thought… In this age of political correctness, we’re actually growing further away from tolerance, which is presumably supposed to be the end product of said politically correct procedures. But now started, we cannot go back so we’ve moved to a completely untenable position.
Okay, forget the rest of the world… Where do I stand on this peace issue? I’d like to see everyone get along and be tolerant and agreeable and get an equal chance at life. I don’t want anyone to force their ideals on me and I don’t think it’s fair for me to force my ideals on someone else. But that’s what I think might be a good position but actually, it connotes total passivity, which is not necessarily so good either. Suddenly I’m aware that my ideal may not be another’s ideal and then there’s that whole battle of psycho-social issues to be dealt with and who does get to have the final say? If it’s me, then others will be unhappy and if it’s others, then I will probably be unhappy at some point too, so I don’t call that peaceful.
I read what the dictionary said about peace, then I read about pacificism and then I read about war and… You know what? You can read and discuss this forever but I still think that as long as there are two people on earth, unless they’re completely of like-mind, there can be no actual peace. It’s a fuzzy concept at best. But I still dream of it and I bet you do too. And it’s still what I want when asked what I’d like to have as a gift and it’s a costly one. I thought I was easy to please and a relatively inexpensive person to maintain but I’m beginning to re-think that. I always seem to ask for the most costly gift of all…
Her Sweetness was over with my dad last night, joining us and the two sonnies for “the Christmas that almost didn’t happen” and then we spoke on the phone again today. In fact, we spoke congenially and even made some plans without taking on shrapnel. I don’t know if this means that she has mellowed or if it means that I’m getting better about not pushing the “hot” buttons. We actually had some peace between us and it started me thinking…
For years, when asked what I wanted for a gift, I’d say “I’d like to have world peace.” I thought I had a concept of what that would be, but upon closer introspection I have come to realize that not only is world peace a fuzzy concept but it’s probably impossible. Human beings are not by nature peaceful creatures anymore than say, dogs, lions, deer, bears, goats, cats, whathaveyou… Whether human or animal, survival of the fittest seems to be the operative principle.
What does peace mean to you? Consider for a moment... Does it mean lack of competition or complete compromise? Does it mean one person giving in and abandoning his or her principles to keep up the status quo? Should it mean complete balance but forfeiture of “self?” Is it a static concept? How peaceful would a dynamic concept be? At some point, someone is going to want to exert a bit more will and when that happens the peaceful dynamic goes out the window.
As long as there are two people left, one of them is going to be unhappy at least part of the time and if one person is unhappy, there is no peace. Think of the term “king of the hill and there you have the nature of mankind. Let’s face it, we all want to be “the one…” You can evidence this by watching kids in the sandbox or on the playground. The truth is we mature, sure…but that little kid is still in there beating his or her little chest and trying to prevail. We never get much farther than that, just more accomplished…
For instance, at least one of you reading this is likely to be offended by my use of the words mankind and king(of the hill). Ergo, obliteration of peace. So then, would peace be defined as tolerance? If that’s the criteria we’re even farther away from having peace on earth than I would have thought… In this age of political correctness, we’re actually growing further away from tolerance, which is presumably supposed to be the end product of said politically correct procedures. But now started, we cannot go back so we’ve moved to a completely untenable position.
Okay, forget the rest of the world… Where do I stand on this peace issue? I’d like to see everyone get along and be tolerant and agreeable and get an equal chance at life. I don’t want anyone to force their ideals on me and I don’t think it’s fair for me to force my ideals on someone else. But that’s what I think might be a good position but actually, it connotes total passivity, which is not necessarily so good either. Suddenly I’m aware that my ideal may not be another’s ideal and then there’s that whole battle of psycho-social issues to be dealt with and who does get to have the final say? If it’s me, then others will be unhappy and if it’s others, then I will probably be unhappy at some point too, so I don’t call that peaceful.
I read what the dictionary said about peace, then I read about pacificism and then I read about war and… You know what? You can read and discuss this forever but I still think that as long as there are two people on earth, unless they’re completely of like-mind, there can be no actual peace. It’s a fuzzy concept at best. But I still dream of it and I bet you do too. And it’s still what I want when asked what I’d like to have as a gift and it’s a costly one. I thought I was easy to please and a relatively inexpensive person to maintain but I’m beginning to re-think that. I always seem to ask for the most costly gift of all…
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