Memories Behind, Let's Look Ahead

The spirit times are now past. Halloween, Day of the Dead and All Souls have all ended for another year. We've celebrated with candy and delighted in the joy of young, costumed innocents. We've thought about those who have passed, walking paths that we will also walk in the time of our own endings. We've remembered both those we know as well as those we've merely heard about, and reflected on the thin veil between life and death. Now it's time to leave the dead behind us again and take up the hard task of living.

Life finds a way to continue, even in the most difficult
circumstances. 

What was the saying in the original Jurassic Park? "Life finds a way?" It does - despite impossible and horrific circumstances, life does find a way. Despite death, birth still happens every day. Despite poverty, smiles cross the faces of the desperate. Despite war, we speak of peace and try to bring small bits of peace into our lives. Is it enough? No. Not really.

I'm not 100% sure about this sentiment, but indisputably, war is destructive
and peace is usually constructive. Therefore, I can see this statement
as having a lot of truth to it. 

We're living in a world that had two world wars over the past century and we're starting to look at a third looming on the horizon. At the same time as conflicts escalate and merge to encompass larger and larger areas, we're also entering the last part of the annual cycle of our calendar - a time when we ask for "peace on earth and good will toward men". I'm here to tell you - you can't have it both ways.

The image of the Ouroboros, the snake or dragon eating
its own tail, has been with us for centuries. It's a perfect
example of how we, as humanity, keep going back to the
same errors and mind sets time after time after time. 

War is not born from peace, nor is peace accomplished through war. Both aspects are parts of the same coin and deeply ingrained into the human psyche. As much as I long for peace and have worked for it throughout my life, it doesn't change the fact that conflict on a personal or household basis can spread out through small areas into larger and larger ones, pulling in more and more people to both sides of polarity. It's an ouroboros - an unsolvable dilemma. Causes that excite the blood to action often are resolved through conflict, not through kinder and gentler means. For all I know, it's genetic and will never be resolved.

Act in a mindful and peaceful manner today and allow those
ripples to spread to others. One kind action can start others. 

But don't give up hope, faith, kindness in your own life, and positive thoughts and actions. No matter how small, they have an effect. When evil taints the earth, small bits of kindness resonate with their own ripples, creating the hope that we will surpass our baser instincts and that perhaps, someday, we will actually triumph over conflict and truly understand what peace is and how to live a life without conflict.

Happy reflective Tuesday to all.