Taking A Time Out

I am an American citizen.  At one time, I considered becoming a Japanese citizen and living in Japan for the rest of my life with my family and Japanese husband.  My friends were Japanese, my food was Japanese, my home was Japanese.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about

Original is from
Life Of Man

living in Japan was the awareness of the communally agreed upon rules of conduct.  I recall experiencing harmony on many occasions.  

During this time, I was taken to the city of Hiroshima by a good friend, Kazuko.  When I walked up to the entrance of the site of the memorial of the epicenter of the atom bomb dropped in 1945, I was approached by activists.  I was asked to tell the United States government to pay money for the suffering caused to the people of Hiroshima.

I said, "It was a WAR!"  I had learned that anything goes in times of war.  Defining the parameters of war only required that the "bad" country had done "bad" things. That makes it okay to do anything required to stop them from doing more "bad" things.  I thought that the deaths caused by the atom bomb were a good trade for ending a world war.

By Glee 2012: Acrylic on canvas

This perspective holds dear the rationalization that having the most powerful destructive capability in the world brings peace.  This works well if the owner of the most powerful force is compassionate and wise.

How can humans keep a powerful weapon from being used again in the future?  Once a weapon is birthed, we cannot un-birth it.  We cannot return it to "nothing". What do we do with it?

Make certain we each have a nuclear bomb.  Then we are all equally powerful.  And compassionate and wise?  Oops. What about the folks who don't have one?  Well, they can sit under the safety of the ones who do, like small chicks under a mother hen.  A big mean mother hen.  Oh, wait.  She's not mean, she's only protecting her brood.  Let's not go after the chickens.  Or the mothers for that matter. Hmmm.  Mothers.  Maybe we should refer to them as bears, instead of chickens.  Are we getting off track here with all of these analogies?  Let's face it, analogies make this nasty subject a bit more palatable.

Really, seeing what happened to the people of Hiroshima broke me into a million pieces.  Pieces of sadness that can never be put back together.  I don't talk about it very much.  But I feel it constantly.  I feel a lot more, honestly, of everything.  Life, you see, is precious.  I wake up every day with joy and gratitude because I have seen an example of the extent of our ability as humans to create utter darkness in the name of peace.  It seems like dropping a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima goes against the commonly agreed upon code of conduct in war.

No one ever punished the United States for using nuclear weapons on men women and children of Japan.  Yes, Japan did some terrible things.  This cannot be forgotten.  But, the US certainly upped the bar for what constitutes power.

If the international community, then in shambles,  had punished America, or the governance of America, would things be different now?  Could we have banned the use of nuclear weapons?  Would we have had the cold war?  Would we have set up boundaries for new countries in the Middle East?  Would Syria exist and be protected by Iran and Russia?  And how can America protect the people of Syria now that sarin gas has been used to kill women and children?  Can sarin gas be treated like a weapon of mass destruction?  Or is it a whole other ball of wax?

9 Questions About Syria You Were Too Embarrassed To Ask 

by Max Fisher Washington Post 8/29

Wait, what was the Geneva Convention and what does it have to do with Syria?  

Find out here:
Wiki Geneva Conventions
Did you read it? At least some of it?

So, the way the international community keeps power balanced is by recognizing universally that a certain kind of weapon stinks!  We all agree not to do certain things that stink, but it's okay to fight. Especially if it is a civil war. You know, like a football game.  If a little bit of hurt comes out of it, it's okay.  A win comes out of playing by the rules.  All in good fun? Perfect harmony and we all go home and heal from our day in combat.  No hard feelings.  Yeah, right.

I think with nuclear weapons, it's fairly well understood that dropping one on the Middle East today would not be a good solution.  We've seen what's possible and it stinks.  But, if you'll notice, the United States is currently and has recently committed many of the acts considered Grave Breaches in countries and situations where America feels required to protect and defend.  Protective Power as agreed upon in the Geneva Convention.  How did we get from "protection" to "punishment"?  The United States abides by this convention when it serves us and we do not when it does not serve us.

Maybe this explains the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam.  Or the torture of "terrorists" who are held captive without trial.

I'm confused.

How are we supposed to feel about the use of chemical weapons in Syria? Our own government is suggesting we punish the Syrian government in order to stop the widespread use of chemical weapons in all warfare from here on out.  This will be done with missiles shot from boats for up to six weeks, because missiles are okay, but sarin gas is not.

As far as I understand it, the original Geneva Convention was created to bring a modicum of humanity into the violence of war.  It meant peaceful folks could go in and help those who are being hurt.  So that compassion could exist along side of the violence and destruction. Wouldn't this make it legal for the US to go in and help all of the refugees and oppressed people of Syria?

How about this: Instead of attacking Assad with weapons, let's help the oppressed .  Let's send in a force of a million unarmed aid workers and healers moving in a blob, a real person from each country present and ready to give a life to end the use of chemical weapons.  Each piece of equipment and each person is checked and cleared as unarmed.  They go in, scoop up, dismantle, and dispose of the weapons in return for leaving the Assad government intact.  They help or remove those who are being injured.  And they leave.  Let's call it a peace cease that is backed whole heartedly by the international community.  I know.  It's crazy.  And it doesn't bring lasting peace to Syria.  But at least it's a vision.  After all, Assad needs to learn a new way of dealing with conflict.  He learned only violence from his father, Hafez.  Yes, Assad was a little boy once.  I wonder how he was treated?

I am visualizing a world where the oppressed are cared for and protected, where weapons of mass destruction and death aren't possessed by any nation.  A place where we no longer need a Geneva Convention.  A world where we are all connected and we are all one with a human face.

Listen to this!  
I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing In Perfect Harmony
And remember that finding a new paradigm requires dying to the old one.

Learn more: 

U.S. used chemical warfare in Vietnam

Chemical Weapons (The truth about the ongoing effects of Agent Orange the US used in Vietnam)

Open To Love

Dear Elementary School Principal,

Thank you for making efforts to ensure my child’s safety at school.  I don’t want my child to experience a violent death or to see his friends and teachers die violently.  It is one of the most terrifying things I can imagine.  Unfortunately, the reality of this kind of violence is already here with us in the world.  Our children are too young to understand a lot of what we are feeling since the Clackamas Town Center shooting and the shooting at Shady Hook Elementary in Connecticut.  However, I do believe that they can feel our fear in our actions, and in some of the sudden changes in rules concerning safety since our return to school after the winter break.  Specifically, that all classroom doors are to be locked from the inside during school hours.  

When I am afraid, I also want lock my door to keep my children safe.  But then, I take them back out into the world and show them that the world is what we make of it.  I do this out of the love I feel for my child and for every person with whom I come into contact each day.  Though we are not the people of Newtown, Connecticut, we can feel what they are feeling.  Our loss of trust is palpable.  We brought our children back to school with the hope that they will be safe.  But, our locked doors are showing them that they are not.  

This letter is in regard to how one particular safety precaution has changed my son’s experience at school.  

This week, he told me about some new rules regarding access to the restroom.  This is how he explained the change.  Upon returning from the restroom, the children must knock on the door or window to the classroom, wait until the teacher or a classmate comes to see that it is someone from class or someone who was in his teacher’s class the year before, then the door can be opened.  He suggested that the rule should be that the children pound loudly on the door because the teacher doesn’t always hear them at first.

I opened the letter explaining safety precautions this morning.  It said nothing of the locked classroom doors.  I had to hear that from my son.  I understand what this rule means and why the school district has instituted the change.  My child does not.  I’m not sure I want to tell him that we are all afraid that some person (it could be anyone, including a child), will walk into the school with a gun, go into the class room, and shoot six to ten bullets into his classmates bodies until they die.  I can’t even fathom how we have arrived at such a place in history.  He has known no other way.

I do think that Ollie and his classmates feel the impact of the changes in other ways.  Consider the message we are giving them.  They are being protected from some unknown assailant.  Their school and classrooms are unsafe places to be.  (These are kids who are still having a hard time getting used to being away from caregivers, parents, or a daycare they have grown to love and trust.) They may feel they are no longer safe in the halls when they are locked out of their classrooms and the door is not answered when they knock.  I wonder how they feel when someone is looking at them and deciding whether or not they belong behind the door through which they are requesting entry.   Our children are left to wonder why they are not given a weapon with which to protect themselves from danger.  They may feel like they are vulnerable when before they felt strong and capable.  I wonder if they are thinking about what this dangerous person will look like.  Will they look at everyone as a potential killer?  Will they begin to suspect that anyone who would hurt them must be different from him or her?  Will the children develop new ways of protecting themselves in this now unsafe environment?  Will they recall how they practiced hiding in the corner in the dark?  Will they notice that even the adults are feeling fear? 

There was a time in our not too distant past, when not all citizens of the United States were welcomed into all of the buildings and classrooms of our public schools to get an education.  Today, there is access.  We have swung the door wide and we are working hard to keep those doors open to all who would pursue an education.  We do this because we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  We do this because we are all human beings and we are all connected in our fear, striving, joy, love, discovery, and want for success.  I would like to see our doors remain open both physically and symbolically. 

I love my community, my neighborhood school, and all of the children, educators, administrators, custodians, and lunch servers in it.  It is a testimony to love and hope for the future to work in our public schools.  I am humbled and I have the utmost respect for what you do in your role as principal at Vernon Elementary and Middle School.  This must be a very challenging subject for you and your staff.

I have a vision of what our public school could be like.  It has less to do with test scores, however, and more to do with loving, open, compassionate friendship, where all of the children are learning in a safe, open environment.  It is a place where our children know that the world is what we make of it.  We have the power to protect by unlocking the doors.  Unlocking the doors to the classrooms is opening to one another, to our potential for compassion.  It is being open to a different way of raising our children.  Do we teach them to obey with threats of consequences or violence?  Or do we love them when they are making mistakes and listen when they are crying out for help? 

I think we can find ways to teach safety without locking the doors to our classrooms.  It could be a place where a child could go for help to any classroom or to any student or educator.  I would like to see a public school system and a community where voices are heard and access to help is available.  If we can begin by demonstrating to our children and to ourselves that we feel safe and strong, maybe we can prevent more violence from happening. And maybe all of the adults in this world will start setting down our weapons one by one until the last nuclear missile is dismantled and the armies are called in from the playground. 

I would like to leave you with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..  It is an excerpt from Beyond Vietnam, A time to Break Silence, delivered on April 4^th, 1967 at Riverside Church, New York City.

            “When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response.  I am not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh.  I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life.  Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door, which leads to ultimate reality.  This Hindu-Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate –ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: “Let us love one another, for love is God.  And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.  He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.”  “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us.’  Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day.” 

Thank you for your time and consideration on this subject.  I look forward to your response to this matter. 

Sincerely,

Mother of a six year old child in the United States of America 

Love Thy Enemy

The Oppressor.  Pastel on paper, 8/25/11

I'm not so sure this drawing needs a lot of explanation.  By "love thy enemy", I mean that we should make a concerted effort to see the oppressors in our society as a part of a sick system based on power.

The woman in the photo could be any mom.  Obliviously doing what she thinks is best for her child.  She could be a school teacher, making an effort to keep the child out of trouble.  Who does the child grow up to be?  Rush Limbah?  Michael Jackson?  People overcome this experience and grow up to be amazing.  And we are all amazing in some way.  But still, I wonder if our early experiences make us afraid to challenge an unhealthy system when we see that others are being hurt or oppressed.  So often, it is the subtle inequalities in our culture that sneak under our radar of caring.  When are we going to realize that "we the people" are both the oppressors, by not taking a stand, and the oppressed, just by experiencing childhood?  Perhaps we can start to change the future by changing the way we see children in our culture.

I wonder if it is possible to find some small light of compassion for our human condition and feed the flame of humanity with love until we find forgiveness.

I started by forgiving my mother for being a less than perfect mother.  I forgave my teachers for being less than perfect teachers.  Then I forgave myself for being a less than perfect mother.  And forgiveness fell like rain.  Forgiveness became the world all around.  It soaked into the hard earth and began to grow whole gardens of non-judgement, where rows of flowers, vegetables and weeds grew in nature's imperfect way.  And it is beautiful.  I fell in love with humanity all over again.  I fell in love with the oppressor inside myself.  Now, can we lay down our arms?  Can we stop "fighting" the people in charge and come at things from a whole new direction?  

"Somewhere in the archives of crudest instinct is recorded the truth that it is better to be endangered and free than captive and comfortable." -Tom Robbins