Dear CCI Friends, Democrats, Republicans and Independents,
No doubt like many of you, I went to bed last night with a heavy, heavy heart. Despite our political persuasions or affiliations, once again we have experienced a major war and destruction on our planet … this one in Ukraine which was brought into our homes via TVs and our iPhones last night. It has been a grim reminder of the reality of our wars, even though it was aimed not to target population centers (the first in my remembrance).
I’ve not turned on the TV or looked for news this morning. I first wanted to record my feelings lest they get lost in the flurry of others’ opinions throughout the day. I apologize if my words leading up to this situation led you to take on opinions that otherwise you would not have considered. That’s the burden of anyone who has first-hand experience with leaders and far away populations like Russia. I told you the truth as I understood it and still stand by my interpretations but don’t expect you to agree.
The situation with Ukraine, Russia and the West was and is loaded with so much bad history and power projections over many generations, that there was no way a showdown could be healing. As somewhat of a Pacifist looking back, I can see how impossible a situation it was. What thoughts do I have now in retrospect?
• I’m deeply, deeply concerned at the serious ‘vacuum of leadership’ we in the United States experience as we try to make sense of today’s world. All this amid thousands of looming human relations within other countries. First and foremost, China and Russia, these are the giant power nations of the future, but in addition to these, there still exists a ‘world of hurt’ across the globe from our past U.S. wars and political disasters that won’t go away. Where will we get American leaders capable of dealing with these hot and painful situations? I cannot see people capable of sufficient leadership in our two major political parties.
• Violence is not the answer in any of these existing situations. How do we as violence-prone populations switch to methodologies that encourage true listening, compassion and solution making? If you have suggestions please share them. We can collect and pass them around as “possibility thinking and actions.” We can join forces with others already addressing some of these dire issues.
• I am bereft at many moments during the day — not seeing a way out of our human condition at its present state of evolution.
• We Americans, most of all people on our planet, need to ‘Search our Souls’, looking beyond our “good life” and think how to live helpfully with others less fortunate than ourselves. Collectively we have excellent international examples of responsible living that we haven’t thought of using for our international relations.
I’m thinking of the Four Way Test that all Rotarians use across our country and across the world. One need not be a Rotarian to practice these steps (covered at the end of this note). Also the 12 Steps of Alcoholics’ Anonymous (AA). These steps will work for any kind of human interactions and addictions including the addiction to War.
• I intellectually accepted Russia’s notion to attack outlying regions in Kiev to destroy military installations (avoiding population centers): something I don’t remember being tried in previous wars. But this too was a disaster. Although it greatly reduced the number of deaths in Kiev, still there were over a hundred fatalities listed (at least not hundreds of thousands as in our previous wars around the world).
• Rather than taking pride in what occurred in Kiev over the past few days, let us see this war as a massive human failure. What could we have done earlier to offset this tragedy? I hope that others of you much smarter than I, will come to conclusions that presently I don’t see … and share them with us all. I’ll get them to everyone else who are interested.
My last concern is a question:
Are we on earth a “warring planet” in our galaxy? Our history certainly suggests that all generations we know of here on earth, have left histories mainly of wars, rumors of wars and heroes who fought in wars. Out of the many planets deep in our cosmos, surely we aren’t the only planet with intelligent life on it. And surely there must be other planets that have risen beyond the warring level and warring consciousness!
This war in Kiev may make a Pacifist of me. Even the best of wars end up killing the innocent and destroying the infrastructures and arts of great cities and states. There has to be a better way to live on planet Earth than using WARS as solutions to human beings’ problems!
I learned yesterday of a Pacifist group in Kiev, Ukraine. This seems a good place to join, investigate and support. More to follow …
Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives
As mentioned above:
THE FOUR-WAY ROTARIAN PLEDGE
First … Is it the TRUTH?
Second … Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Third … Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Fourth … Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
THE 12 STEPS of ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
These 12 Steps of AA will work for any and all conditions in the lives of we human beings.
They are available on Google and in numerous forms throughout the world.