Doing my job
Last month my brother left for Afghanistan. He is a United States Marine and scheduled for a 14-month deployment to a “Forward Operating Base,” which, in layperson terms, is a base engaged in “the action.”
When my brother first told me two years ago that he had enlisted in the Marine Corps, the word shocked, doesn’t really capture it. Maybe heartbroken is more apt. Let me give you a little snapshot of my world. I am a peace activist. With a homemade patch on my worn-out backpack proclaiming, “Invest in peace, not war” and an intention in my heart to spread peace seeds far and wide, I have traveled the world and found myself in bus stations, grocery stores, and immigration lines advocating for active peacemakers in the world. Since the war in Afghanistan began, I have marched, rallied, gathered, and held vigils for the message of peace. The very week before my brother left, I had marched alongside a group of veterans for peace protesting the war in Afghanistan.
So, now I have a brother who is soldier in a foreign war. I need some good ideas.
When I talked with my dad, who has always been a pro-military guy, he said something that really made me feel desperate. He said, “Well, Veronica, you better do your job [peace-making] so he doesn’t have to do his.” I have been marching, protesting, talking, organizing, for
years, but now, it felt like my brother’s well-being was directly in my hands.
How to deal with this? I, Veronica, cannot end war all by myself, no matter how many rallies I participate in. I believe these events are a part of a larger awakening to a possibility, a pure, divine wonderful possibility of harmony. They are expressions of the eternal ideas of Principle and Life and Love. And Principle, Life, and Love, which truly bring about the end of conflict are what I must turn to.
I often hear in my conversations that we live in a world with “inevitable conflict” and “necessary war.” But is war or conflict ever truly inevitable or necessary? Mary Baker Eddy writes that “Love is the liberator.” 1 Is there ever a time when love has run out of options?
When I speak to others of my brother’s deployment, some say, “Well, if anyone is going to be out there, I’m glad it is him.” I immediately reject the notion that anyone must be out there. Accepting this idea would be to accept Love’s potential ineffectiveness. War will not emancipate us from the imprisonment of injustice, suffering, destruction. It cannot. The only thing that can emancipate us is Love, and nothing can diminish that.
Here is an idea I discovered in my journey to find fresh ways to pray about ending war and conflict. There is a story of one of Mary Baker Eddy’s students who has a patient who was suffering from an injury received during the United States’ Civil War. After praying with this person for some time, the practitioner saw no change and asked Mrs. Eddy why the treatment was not working. Mrs. Eddy replied that the patient and the practitioner both believed that there was a war attached to the patient’s history—that he had a history separate from God (see Ira W. Packard, “Justification,” Christian Science Sentinel, May 10, 1913. Eddy writes, “. . . Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He creates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history.” 2
True, I am still exploring the depth of this metaphysical concept but one thing that stands out to be is that the familiar words “No War” get a radically different meaning with this thought applied. My demands for “No War” have not been just for achieving No War now, but for perceiving No War ever—not now, not in the future, and even not in the past. Light never knows darkness. God’s creation is “unchanged in its eternal history,” and that is a history free from fear, free from violence, free from evil—free from war of any kind.
Each one of us must commit to the reality that war is obsolete—is no part of divine reality. Imagine what we will witness then!
This prayer is ongoing and I would love all of your ideas.
Notes:
Topics: World Issues | Tags: demonstrations, military, military service, peace, rallies, war
Dear Veronica,
A trusted friend recently sent me this statement, supposedly made by early 1900s Christian Science teacher and lecturer Bicknell Young. Though I can’t vouch for its authenticity, it has been a helpful reminder to me to stay on track — the “one Mind” track. When I first read it, I couldn’t help but expand its scope beyond the U.S. and embrace the whole world, including Afghanistan.
(Note: I’ve taken the liberty of breaking it into paragraphs to make it easier to read.)
………………
The United States of America
God is governing His own universe all of the time, and governing it correctly. There isn’t a thing we can think of which can’t come under the law of divine power.
At this time there happens to be a necessity for alertness. The old landmarks are disappearing. They are disappearing rapidly.
In our country the political situation has suddenly assumed an aspect utterly unlike anything that has preceded it. Now, what are we going to do about it?
The trouble or danger about it, is that you see it wrong. I know one thing, that God governs the universe, no matter what the Republicans or Democrats do.
The way to handle error is not to get up a fight with error, but to do some mighty knowing from the standpoint of omnipotence. “The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
Nothing can occur that is a serious danger if we know what our country is, and what governs it. If we know our government is the government of God, or Christ, and there is no other, then we know something.
If we keep on knowing, we will meet any difficulty or danger, overcome any threat, and establish divine power in behalf of our country. We will be more of a patriot than we ever dreamed of being, because we are exercising divine power to sustain all that is in accord with Principle, for the benefit of mankind.
What really counts, is to know that God has already done all things well, and this is the standpoint of Christian Science. Our country, the government of divine Principle, is now established, and the law of it is untouched by any combination of circumstances, and its safety is maintained. God’s kingdom is come; and He is everpresent.
BICKNELL YOUNG
………………..
When I Googled “Bicknell Young” to find his bio, this blog from Katie Brown from the Christian Science Committee on Publication for Indiana popped up: http://www.christiansciencein.com/2012/02/27/bicknell-young
A testimony I heard at a CS college meeting at Stanford during the Vietnam war: man got up and said he was a platoon leader, just returned from Vietnam. (silent gasp in the aud., most of the attendees were definately anti-war) He said his platoon did 2 6-week active duty tours back to back (rather unusual). They obeyed every order and went where they were told to go, BUT during the entire 12 weeks they were not responsible for harming any one and no one in their platoon was harmed. For him there was no war. I have never personally supported the military. This testimony humbled me to not quietly in my private thoughts be negative towards christian scientists who join the military.
When one side feels that war is justified, I wrote this:
There is no good reason or justification for war. Our only enemies are qualities that don’t belong to any of us or any one else, such as hatred, injustice, envy, jealousy, covetousness, bad temper, and indifference. All major religions teach their believers to love their fellow man. A version of the Golden Rule is present in all major religions.
Muslim believers, when they greet each other and say good bye, always say “May God be with you”
and “God go with you”. A week or two ago, we “traveled” to Iran on the travel channel and I loved what I saw. No country is perfect and the documentary may not have shown all its challenges, but it truly is a beautiful country with loving and friendly citizens! And this is no surprise, because that is our true nature, as God made us to be.
Our goal and purpose must be to learn to love more unconditionally, whoever it may be. ‘Our Father’ means that we are brothers and sisters, we are one family! Jesus said something to the effect of if we cannot love each other, how can we love God?
Thanks for listening.
Amen Ben!
No, there is no time when Love has run out of options. Never.
Thanks so much for this Veronica–so clear, pure, cutting to the core!
I love this passage from Mary Baker Eddy’s Miscellaneous Writings:
“Thus founded upon the rock of Christ, when storm
and tempest beat against this sure foundation, you,
safely sheltered in the strong tower of hope, faith, and
Love, are God’s nestlings; and He will hide you in His
feathers till the storm has passed. Into His haven of
Soul there enters no element of earth to cast out angels,
to silence the right intuition which guides you safely
home.”
and also this passage from MBE’s Science and Health always helps me zero in on how divine Love is universally present now, and what that means for humanity: present peace, present safety for all.
“One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; con‐
stitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the
Scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself;” annihilates
pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in
social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes;
equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves
nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.”
Thanks for your honest and uplifting thoughts, Veronica. Reading about your role as a peace activist made me think about how, in reality, peace is all that’s active. Destruction, fragmentation, disagreement, etc. are notingness, they can’t take action at all! The law of God’s universe is helping along all those working for peace and ensuring that peace is all that can really shape our experience. Of course, that influence of peace is also touching everyone in a war zone, soldiers and civilians, and keeping them safe too. Your commitment to seeing war as obsolete is inspiring, will join in the effort!
Thanks for this article Veronica. And that’s a great quote, Gordon.
I think we can all bare witness to the Christ in even the toughest places. My heart goes out to those individuals willing to put themselves on the line in the hope of establishing honest and stable government, and peace in Afghanistan. Your brother is a peace-maker too :) You can cherish that, and trust how divine Love is elevating thought to reveal God’s everpresent care for everyone. In the face of God’s allness, evil has no power.
Thank you all for these Elevator Truths… it inspired me to remember that
“The peace of God which passeth all understanding SHALL keep your(our) hearts and minds through Christ Jesus ” I think this underlies the great yearning of the human heart to feel, know and see the evidence of this divine quality. To settle any inner turmoil which we claim as our own; knowing without a doubt that we are all ” rooted and grounded in LOVE ” is a powerful bass (Base !) note that sends its power rippling through individual lives and the world.
There’s a Hindu prayer that describes the world
Om purnamadah purnamidam
purnat purnamudacate,
Purnasya purnamadaya
purnamevavasisyate.
Om. That is perfect. This is perfect. From the perfect springs the perfect.
If the perfect is taken from the perfect, the perfect remains.
During periods of prayer and meditation, one may be able to perceive the world and human activities as whole and perfect and divine. Ultimately, I return to seeing human struggle as a very small ego thrashing about, disconnected from any wholeness. But, MBE argues there is no lapse from or return to Harmony. That all is perfect — even war, human struggle, egos thrashing.
So, is the challenge to develop a perspective through which you see God’s harmony through all human actions or to change the world into what we perceive is divine reality — no war, fear, greed, violence?
Have you ever read Mary Baker Eddy’s “Prayer for Country and Church”? It’s in “Christian Science versus Pantheism,” one of the shorter books in Prose Works, and starts on page 14. This “prayer” is not too long, and here is an excerpt from the middle of it:
“In your peaceful homes remember our brave soldiers, whether in camp or in battle. Oh, may their love of country, and their faithful service thereof, be unto them life-preservers! May the divine Love succor and protect them, as at Manila, where brave men, led by the dauntless Dewey, and shielded by the power that saved them, sailed victoriously through the jaws of death and blotted out the Spanish squadron.”