It seems that my body has been at war with a cold for days. Most of the time it appears that a cold-free state will prevail, but then my throat complains or my ear squawks with built-up fluid and I wonder if the body will succumb. This battlefield demands a lot of energy, and fatigue strikes out of nowhere on a regular basis.
Experiencing the prevalence of wars - bodies against disease; aphids attacking the kale in my garden and then my intention to annihilate those pesky critters with a solution of oil, dish soap and water; our battle against the mouse invasion a couple of years ago where we strongly stated "Not On Our Turf"; not to mention the struggles between young kids when one kidnaps the toys of another - I wonder if war is not one of the most natural and fundamental actions on this planet.
Everything wants to survive and sometimes survival means stepping on someone's foot, or eating their kale, or bringing them down with a cold.
So what is this crazy lady's point?
Heck if I know.
The brain-fog created by this invasion of cold germs has not made me a lover of wars. I still can't condone the violence and killing that is being done by my fellow countrypeople - or anyone else, for that matter.
So where do we draw the line? Do we go no further than the point where our life is threatened by bacteria and we employ antibiotics? Do we stop at the point where the aphids die from our concoction, allowing us to have our daily requirement of greens? Or do we respond with killing when we feel our country is threatened even though we would never wage war preemptively?
Between the inner battle of germ vs. immune system and amidst the backdrop of the panel I attended a couple of days ago - a panel of veterans who are against the wars we find ourselves in - I am wondering about the views of war's proponents. I'm guessing that they believe that they are as right as I have been known to believe myself to be. I haven't been very open to hearing their views -kind of like the way I don't care about the needs of the aphids and mice.
Hmmmmm... Maybe it's time to, for once, put away my fears and prejudices and listen to those who see so differently from me.
We'll see if I still believe that once this head is cleared of all symptoms cold related. ;-)
Hope your own personal Cold War is soon over. Take care of yourself.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really thought-provoking post. So true that aggression seems to be hard-wired into our genetics. Some in the Catholic arena call it the "original sin." We're born into it and can't escape it. Just have to deal with it. Whether that is true or not, we still need to listen--even to people we "know" are wrong.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dancing,
ReplyDeleteWe've been holding peace talks and the outlook is good!
B.E.,
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy to stay cocooned in with "the choir". I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to put myself in a place where I can learn from those who think differently from me. I don't think that I'm ready for a tea party gathering!