Nurturing the Enemy
From cradle to grave
It is as though we have made our enemy into some foreign object. Killing an enemy is still the destruction of spirit.
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Listening to the spin doctors after the presidential debates, I got to thinking that there are some who ask "who won" as though this were another war.
We are a nation who can lead with decency. Using "Tough Love," we can stand firm, and yet not create additional enemies. Lord knows we have enough. We do not go after our children with guns and knives in order to save them. We nurture them. We do not create democracy by killing. Rather, we join in mentoring a higher morality. We stand firm against our enemies and also speak with them, hear their complaints and ideas. Not just the ideas of our moneyed supporters and our friends. We can rise high enough to help each other live. Forget war. The world does not need a war. Everyone loses in war, with the tough stance, the unwavering position, the feel-good images of men and women in flight jackets.
We need to have a plan to win the peace, to choose our leaders from those who stand firm for diplomacy, for science and for prayer. It is time to choose leaders who are brave in battle, yes, and yet have the ability to act with honesty, decisive in turning around to rescue the endangered, wise enough to hear the cries of the impoverished, fair in choosing judges who will rule to support the Constitution for all classes of people and strong in putting aside killing to create a just peace.
It is as though we have made our enemy into some foreign object. Killing an enemy is still the destruction of spirit. The enemy is our friend! Gives us perspective on what is godly and what is not. Whether we call it the dark night of the soul or the jihad, it is the internal battle we fight to find meaning. When we take it onto the killing streets, we lose our living souls. We would not kill a child. Our soul is like an innocent child. If we raise it to have the skewed values of destruction and hate, it will terrorize us. And we will kill it.
Stop killing. We are not wild beasts, but can think. Someone has to take the first step to decency, and begin to choose life.
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Dr. Paul Aaron's publications include: "White Flower" and "Our Blessed Love Enduring." "Catastrophizing" was performed by the Deep Dish Theater Company at the Cornucopia House Cancer Support Center in 2003.
In 1971, Dr. Aaron began teaching Yoga and meditation. In 1972 he became the owner of Manna Fest Station, a natural foods macrobiotic restaurant. The Journals of Manna Fest Station are in his plans to publish next year. Organic gardening is still the way of his family’s kitchen table and he continues teaching in the fields of Nutrition and Meditation.
Graduating cum laude from Logan College of Chiropractic in 1983, Aaron practiced Chiropractic and Acupuncture until the point that Democracy and writing demanded all his attention.
