Peace on Earth.

 

Peace on Earth.

It’s a week before Christmas and I am locked in at home spared the pains of shopping on credit cards and all the rest of holiday rituals. It gives me time to think about the Jewish baby that was born destined to spread a message of peace, love, and hope. The airwaves are ringing with songs about Santa, Rudolf, elves, and gifts. Amazon is predicting huge profits and folks dressed up like Eskimos are dreaming about a vaccine that will allow them to return to “normal” perhaps without jobs and homes but, what the heck. They can say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays.

I call my wife “my gift from God.” I don’t give platitudes, I truly mean it. Yet in the fifty years or so that we have spent together, we probably sparred or had arguments at least every two days. When I asked her once what she hopes heaven will be like, she said, I hope in heaven there will be peace. Why ask for peace instead of living in peace I asked? And a new argument erupted.

I agree with the idea that peace is the most precious thing on earth and possibly the hardest to get. I have two cats at home and we love those little animals dearly. They have everything a cat could dream of and there is enough food, space, and comfort toys for 10 cats, but they fight. The stronger male hunts the female and chases her away from the good places, including the litter box. I get after him and my wife gets defensive on his behalf, so we fight.

I look around the world knowing that we live in the most peaceful time in history. It has been seventy-plus years since the last big war and the weapon manufacturers are not happy about it. Almost all fights I am aware of start because someone can make more money on fighting than on peace.

We exist in relative peace, yet there are wars all around us where people really get killed, children starve and homes are wrecked. Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Armenia, Yemen, Miramar, most South American countries, most African countries, large cities in the United States, all have small or large wars going on.

My friends and I go on vacation to foreign places, see the tourist places and take a tour to the safe areas of poor countries assuming that they are backward and need better political systems. We never see the truth. We only see what is shown to us. When we meet the poor people who came here as immigrants we see them humble, trying to learn our ways and survive here the best they can.

To truly “know” what the other people are like, we must go deeper.

There are billions of people who do not have our wealth and all that comes from having it. The poor can’t go on vacations but they see what we enjoy on TVs, and even on the screens of little smartphones. They know that living day to day, not knowing if there will be food tomorrow, is unnecessary. They “know” that they work hard but can’t be sure about the next meal, that their kids don’t receive education and there is no help when they get sick and die. They think that we also “know” it and enjoy feeling superior to them. They hate the fact that we have clean water and they don’t since our corporations polluted it.

In my day, I met many of those who were not lucky enough to be born rich. Many, including me, were born into poverty, often in rich countries. I also met people who were well off and lost it all, sometimes in wars. The poor are not stupid, not lazy nor greedy, they only want to live. They want their kids and aging parents not to suffer and die. In an attempt to save their lives they imitate those who do well and often become greedy lying cheats and the war goes on. You can’t find genuine love amongst the very rich. They don’t know if it’s not faked for a price.

I had the “privilege” to be around those who do not need to worry about food for tomorrow or even a pension for old age. I smiled and showered platitudes like the rest of them and pretended to be somewhat better than the unwashed masses. I studied the Christmas story theoretically but didn’t learn a thing. Powerful folks always wish to maintain peace while the underprivileged are a threat to them. The weak learn how to join forces and beat those who oppress them. When they do, they don’t stop and everyone changes places. The cards are shuffled and a new game begins. So how can we obtain “Peace on Earth?” Half of my Christmas cards this year mention PEACE.

Instead of trying to figure out how to cheat to get ahead of others, we could see where we can help, especially those who can’t payback.

People learn by imitating, even animals do. When we do the right thing, we feel good and others copy. It starts like a pandemic, in one little place, and spreads. It is slow in the beginning, but huge later on. Remember the song “we are the world we are the children?”

This year we have the opportunity to spend some time thinking and evaluating what we learned, even from an awful experience. We start with thoughts, go-to words, and perform actions.

My wish for this quarantine Christmas is that in some little mountain towns, like Bethlehem, the message of the divine baby will take hold and spread, infecting maskers and anti maskers alike. Little acts of kindness go around this world just as fast as wars.

Humans will now go through the most significant change ever. We must make it positive or destroy ourselves. Accept the teachings of the one named Emmanuel.

Joy and Peace for the new year.