The world at war

Last night, I was sitting in one of my regular AA meetings, and the reading was "We Agnostics." This is a chapter in the Big Book that addresses the evolution of faith among alcoholics and why a spiritual path is necessary. We read the chapter, then we went around the room for comments.

I was one of the last people to comment; and I listened to the women in the meeting talk about their personal journeys. Some focused on Religion. There was a bible-thumper who talked about God as a person, a human being. Some talked about their own journey from agnosticism, and how in their early sobriety they found God in the words "Good Orderly Direction."

Some focused on the simple truth that the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, if we work them, create a massive psychic and spiritual change in us which make us act and think differently than we had as drinking alcoholics. This difference is demonstrated by the truth that we do not drink when before we were unable to stop; and we have become patient, tolerant, loving and kind, when before we were self-centered in the extreme.

And then it got to me. The basic core teaching of all the major religions is patience, tolerence, kindness, and love. So where do we go wrong? Religion in the hands of small minds drives hatred, fear, intolerance and greed. Power in the hands of small minds nurtures hatred, fear, intolerance and greed. I talked about my own journey from belief to faith which are actually two different things. I have faith in a power greater than myself that helps me to act differently than I did before AA. I am kind when I would rather be nasty. I am patient when I'd rather cut you off in traffic. I am tolerant when I when I would rather tell you to not leave your house, let alone the country and you should NOT travel. I am loving when I would rather smack you upside the head. I take direction from a sponsor in AA.

But I look at the world: the Middle East is in flames over some strips of land that, given the pace of Global Warming, will be under water in not all that long. Mullahs kill shepards for not diapering their goats. Jews who should know better dropping bombs on their neighbors who in turn drop bombs on them who in turn drop bombs on them who... A moran at the helm of the US government who listens to hateful, evil, greedy people who claim to have a direct pipeline to God - but God doesn't want hate; God wants people to be patient, kind, tolerent and loving.

So what causes this? Hatred is a form of insanity. And insanity always seems to speak with a voice of authority that sanity doesn't have. Sane people consider options; sane people listen to other opinions; sane people recognize and respect other points of view.

The Aboriginal people of Australia know that we are simply caretakers of the earth. Why do we, of European or Middle Eastern descent think we OWN things? We destroy what we supposedly own so we can have more stuff.

Flights between the US and the UK are at the highest security alert level; other flights are at the second highest level; everything else remains yellow. We are closing in on mid-term elections. I have been saying for several years that there will be some kind of major terrorist event close to the mid-term elections in order to re-up the fear factor. Lieberman lost; next thing we know we have terrorists in London trying to get on planes with liquids, when mixed together, will explode. Let's talk about the timing of THAT!

But it comes down to hatred, and fear, and entitlement, and addiction to power. Greed. Oil. We are destroying the earth, and we are being destroyed as people by a handful of people driven by "justifiable" whatever. EVERYONE points a finger of blame at someone else because it is easier than taking responsibility to find solutions. What difference does it make who started what in the Middle East? It doesn't matter. What matters is that they stop, and find a way to talk to each other. Because very soon, there will be nothing left to talk about.

My prayer, daily, is for this insanity to stop. My action is to talk to others; to work for change, to work for peace.