Celebrate Life, Not Death
The weather yesterday was gorgeous. The sun was bright. The air was cool and dry. A slight breeze was blowing through town. I was thinking to myself how beautiful life can be if you only take the time to enjoy it. To open our eyes to the world full of pain and sorrow to see that there is beauty in the living world.
I have continued to be completely obsessed with observing the spring. All the colors that dance with in my sight at every step, anywhere I go these days. The flowers are survivors. They are thrivers even in the most difficult of situations. Their roots reach down and squeeze in between the cracks to seek out the nutrients from the earth, as the colored petals open up to receive the sun’s rays.
It wasn’t until I got back to the station and hopped on the train that I checked the news on my cellphone. The top story was Osama Bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan. I had no real emotional reaction to it at that time. I felt kind of numb. I felt no joy in the news.
I read through the story and still felt not much of anything. I wasn’t surprised. It was as if i was saying to myself, “Ok, now what?” After the news sank in a bit I began to wonder what is this going to mean in our lives. Are we truly going to be safer. I think now. Now that the number one evil doer in the world has been killed, I thought to myself, what are they now going to use as the poster boy of evil?
I was sadden to see the young Americans out in the street rejoicing in the death of someone. Even though that someone in no way was a good soul. My heart tells me that rejoicing in the demise of someone else is just wrong.
I began to think about these young people. Most of them were of the college years. They were just children when 911 happened. They know nothing than what the media has been feeding them over the last 10 years. In the words of my friend Jerry Kolber It saddened my heart to see them “celebrating as if we had won the world series of baseball!”
We, as human beings, should celebrate LIFE, not death. Life is worth living. Life is worth more that all the billions spent in the name of war. We should celebrate life, the happiness in our lives. The color and joys that fill up our days. At the same time we need to be vigil and remember the great incalculable cost to kill one man.
So I choose life. I will celebrate life, not death. We cannot let hatred rule our lives, because hate will only breed more hate. Love can conquer hate, but it is the more difficult way.
For me the flowers and their hues are life. I celebrate the joy that they bring to my heart. Let your hearts be open to love to dispel the hate.
One Love
from Tokyo
