March 13, 2003
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These photos were sent to me by a close friend, of her son that has been sent to Kuwait. For her and her son, I wish for PEACE.
Your Primary Responsibility
A friend confided in me that he was struggling to understand his responsibility in a world obsessed with war. I told him the answer is simple: choose peace.
While you cannot control the attitudes or actions of politicians or others, you have total control over the thoughts, feelings, and energy you are exuding. If you are steeped in fear, anger, a sense of victimization, or separateness, you are contributing to the darkness. If you hold a sense of peace, wholeness, compassion, kindness, and the presence of love, you are contributing to healing. As Kipling nobly penned, “If you can hold your head when all about you are losing theirs. . ‘
A visionary thrives under all circumstances, for he or she sees beyond the obvious. At this time the world needs good visionaries. If you would save the world, begin with your own consciousness.
An excerpt from: Alan Cohen
Comments (21)
WOW. I have chills when I look at those photos.
We DO need serious visionaries!
it really is simple.
Great photos and thoughts. Vision is vastly underrated in leadership. I like the Andy Warhol quote below, too. Saw it yesterday elsewhere…
Like the photos. Great view from the sky!
Thanks SO MUCH for sharing these pictures and the excerpt. The pictures bring to life some of the reality about war. I was just discussing today with my husband how a would-be war is going destroy the lives of the common Iraqi people. The excerpt is so well written. Amen to that!
Such brave men!
Ironic, they have to face this, this, that is caused by men.
Looking at those pictures and thinking, What incredible faith in technology we have to willing leap head first from an airplane.
Yes, nice Kipling reminder…
And it is that simple: choose peace.
Those photo’s make my tummy flip. The first is scary, but the second is more peaceful to me. It seems there would be a moment of peace while you are floating (if you are not a target that is).
Great photos, and somehow you almost perfectly matched what I had been thinking in posting my blog!
I had been searching for precedent and writings on the duty of armed-services personnel to question their orders if they feel they go against good moral principle. I’m not an overly-religious person, but I came across this particular piece of writing by a Catholic theologian. No one too notable, but someone wise nonetheless:
“The problem, I believe, is that when it comes to war, too many Catholics, like so many others, pledge their allegiance to their country, right or wrong. They are obedient to the nation before all else: before the natural law, before divine law, before the words and example of Jesus Christ, before conscience. The problem is, in a word, idolatry. The nation-state has taken the place of God. [...] This is not an overstatement. [...] Conscience is nothing less than a witness to God, whose voice and judgment penetrates to the depths of a person’s soul.”
This man was writing about Catholics in the armed services, saying that if even 10% of Catholics in active duty in the armed forces objected to their Iraq War orders on moral grounds, it would lessen the pool of personnel in the Gulf by over 37,000 members.
I love the redesign of your site, too!
sadly I chose conflict today. But I will choose peace next time.
Thanks for such an appropriate post today. 
at first I thought Southland has gone absolutely mad…now she’s jumping out of planes…:) these are reality check images…it somehow brings things further into perspective, and as said above, quite chilling….
theres hundreds of us over here ha ha…put NZ on the top of your list of things to do…then come home
and yes, you look like you could be my cousin
Those images, especially the second one are fantastic.
A note on the comment by Anole – Nazi Germany was a Catholic state. Hitler was a Catholic. The Pope, arguably, was very pro Nazi, the Vatican, unarguably, helped many many Nazis escape to South America.
So where was all this moral Catholicism then?
hear hear! (to you, that is, Molly)
I think we peace-thinkers are outnumbered, though… not to mention inconsistent… I’ve been stewing all day about something someone said to me last night… *sigh*
Oh, heck no, Soap! I’m no Catholic. I’m not even religious, nor will I defend the Catholic church. I happen to think the Catholic church sucks, esp. recently. Even if they *did* finally come back and apologize for the Crusades a few years back. Oh, and for their inaction during the Holocaust.
. Hitler may have been Catholic, but he was just plain fucked up.
I only like that this particular person pointed out how people have managed to ignore their conscience when in the face of a bureacracy and its directives, that they’ve put country before all other imperatives. The writer could have been anyone – Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, – the message would have been just as poignant, maybe better.
I totally agree. somtimes it is hard to show compasion in the hands of hate. peace is the only way to heel the world. This quote you wrote reminds me of buddisum, and the core teachings of the philosophy/religion. Great blog.
great blog! the only way we can ever hope to achieve a world peace is to achieve individual peace.
Great thoughts. The world would be a better place if everyone could learn to choose peace – not just between nations, but also between individuals.
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They’re incredible photographs.
…WoW – fantastic photos.
MubSe