Personal wars

During the past two months there have been situations where Canadian soldiers have expressed their thoughts on life in conflict zones. In all seriousness, these expressions have been a constant in the lives of those that have gone to war/conflict zones. For many that do speak up, they talk about the ever present battle of trying to understand the horror of what they witnessed. They talk about the hoplessness/helplessness or the uncontrolable situations they were surrounded by. As they are slowly pulled away physically from those areas their minds, hearts and character of self remains behind. A large part of who they are is left behind in the hell of war. During the past few months there have been breakthroughs for some where the war has come to a good peaceful end. For others we can only hope the nightmare ended when they could take no more.

Peace is not easy. The reality of being left in a hopeless situation is all too often common. The mental war rages on behind the eyes of courage. That war is often supressed due to the some desire of not wanting to be a burden. This feeling of not being a burden becomes its own enemy to everyone. Thus the cycle of chaos, destruction, segragation and sorrow compounds. Being in such a situation is more worrisome when you are the person sent in to bring peace and order coupled in with a list of constraints. These constraints are so limiting that you effectively must sit on the sidelines as you watch the population being slaughtered. How does anyone remain peaceful, let alone sane in such a reality?

It is popular to say that everyone wants peace, is that really true? How far do you go to defend your values? Such questions are integral to understanding the importance and responsibility of being at peace. No matter what social structure you may live in, there are fundamental realities of being at peace. One such reality is that peace is described as perfect balance. That means there are equal forces on either side. In terms of sanity, your day must be 50% sane and 50% insane. true why would anyone test anothers resolve to the point where killing each other becomes rational? That has be the central theme of thought for the past month or so when looking at the world.

What is disheartening is that others do feel it is okay to test anothers resolve on such a level. This is the slippery slope which everyone should take great care while traversing it. Unfortunately there seems to be a plethora of risks being taken with little care of everyones lives. Such actions are pushing the entire world to the boiling point. It seems as though we are spinning out of control.

This spinning is why the question of defending your values becomes so prominent. Being at peace carries the responsibility of standing up when Do you take such a stance as firm as – to the death?