The World on Stage

60: (March 2022)

A couple of hundred years ago, if a war was going on somewhere else in the world, we would feel rather removed from it. In fact, we would most likely not even know about it. But today, we experience it in real time. We see the bombs exploding as the news streams into our phones, laptops, and televisions. We see people suffering. We see death.

As we’ve witnessed the war in Ukraine unfold these past several weeks, there’s been an intensifying sense of collective outrage. There are literally millions of eyes watching the destruction wrought by this war. As political outrage transforms itself into increased sanctions and other forms of international assistance, perhaps Ukraine can actually defeat this aggression. I can’t bring myself to writing words like “win” or “be victorious,” because when so many people are dying, those words seem completely out of place. Nobody wins in a war.

I feel a deep sense of helplessness as I take in the daily news. It is like being part of a tragic play, only it’s real, with real people parading around with killing machines, and real people dying. Fortunately, many people, particularly in Europe, are reaching out to help the refugees. People are opening their homes to the Ukrainians, and many more are donating food, clothing, and money. Those acts of generosity cast some light into an aching world.

But the brightest light is the fire that has been lit by the Ukrainians’ bravery and by what that represents: a belief in freedom. How very easy it is to take that for granted. The war in Ukraine serves as a powerful reminder that freedom can be wrenched away — or can slip away — if it is not safeguarded. Attacks on our freedom can be threatened outright in a war, or threats can be insidious, such as the gradual erosion of our freedom to vote that is currently taking place in our country.

It is convenient to think, “It can never happen to us; it can never happen here.” But no one, and no country, is ever immune to existential threats. We are reminded to treasure and protect the right to vote in a free democracy as we rally for the Ukrainians and are inspired by their spirit. They are laying down their very lives for a taste of the freedom we so foolishly risk losing if we let ourselves slide into complacency.

40: (March 2002)

My sister works in New York City. Last weekend, I visited her and we spoke about September 11^th and what it was like to be there on that day. Her coworkers had mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers in the Twin Towers, and they had watched the smoke fill the air from their midtown office on that tragic morning. I think living through that has made my sister more appreciative than me of the gift of each day. And tucked away in the country, it has been easier for me to slip into relative comfort again, whereas she expresses a more direct fear of future terrorism.

Our discussion prompted much thought about peace, both on a world scale and at a very personal level. I think the discomfort or fear of an unexpected disaster can serve to move us closer to peace on an individual basis. I thought about how I would feel if I was about to die; would I have regrets? Would I have unfinished business on a spiritual level, or would I be at peace? At this particular point in my life, I know with certainty that I would not be ready. There is pain in my life that is unhealed and unforgiven. I tell myself that I have time to heal, time to forgive. But all those people who perished in the Towers, the Pentagon, and the airplanes undoubtedly thought they had time, too.

Yet even as I realize that we can never be sure of the time before us, even as I contemplate the possibility that this could be my last day, odds are that this day will pass as the others, with unresolved issues still held in my heart as I close my eyes at night. Alas, it is the human condition to struggle. Life is a continual dance between who we want to be and who we are, as we repeatedly fail to meet our ideals. But struggle and strive we must. It is also the human condition to have hope. We are a stubborn species; we keep trying.

Can awareness of the instability in our world serve to push us a little further in creating our own internal peace? How many of us have people in our lives with whom we need to make amends? How many things need to be said and done in order to “rest in peace?” Can we each try to move at least a little closer to our ideals, in honor and memory of the lives that have been lost? There will never be a peaceful world if, as individuals, we hold grudges, hatred, or bitterness in our hearts. Perhaps eradicating that is our greatest challenge. Perhaps if we were able to win that peace, person-by-person around the globe, the rest would be easy.

60-40:

Looking back 20 years, it’s hard to imagine that we’ve made much progress with respect to developing a sense of internal peace. It seems like people are more agitated, angry, and divided than ever before. Maybe that feeds into why the world as a whole seems even more unstable.

How can a person respond to all of this? I don’t think there’s any choice but to keep trying. One step at a time. One day at a time. One heart at a time, starting with my own.

And while I may not be able to stop the war in Ukraine, I can do what I can to preserve our own democracy. I can exercise my freedom to vote each and every time I am given the opportunity, and I can be an engaged citizen — before it becomes a life or death situation.