Human Nature

I'm a game of thrones fan...just like millions of other people. I think a part of it's appeal is that all human beings recognize greed, unbridled ambition and people who will do anything to get what they want. We recognize those, and the other qualities that the GOT characters demonstrate because they are all a part of each of us. We all draw from the well that is humanity.

While watching one evening it occurred to me that the various characters run around just like they actually have power, like they are in charge of the earth. Human leaders everywhere are little different. I thought: "How foolish human beings are to think that we control things!". That kind of control is a pure illusion. We have no real control over life. Sickness, old age and death come to us all eventually. We can't keep someone we love from dying when their time comes. We can't control what someone else thinks or feels. We can't control the weather or the geological changes in the earth. We live on the surface of a big ball and we are little better than ants. Someone observing us from a great altitude would, undoubtedly, come to a similar  conclusion.

What we do have power over; what we can control is ourselves. This is a truth that has been discovered and described by the wise in every race; every culture and every age. Theirs are voices that get drowned out in every generation because the young believe they are the first to discover all the wonders in life. For them everything is new so they must have discovered it. We can pass down our genes and we can pass down the body of knowledge that our race has amassed but we can't pass down wisdom. Wisdom is something that must be earned by every individual and, try as they might to pass it on, every wise person who has ever lived has found that very few will actually learn from their experience. You see...that's what wisdom is...learning from someone else's experience.

We have the power to destroy ourselves...and all life on earth for that matter. What we don't have the power to do is create life. The power that we think we have is an illusion. We like to delude ourselves that we are much more than we are. We, collectively, have thrown God out of our lives like we don't need Him. 'That' is delusional. We need Him now more than ever.

We'll all realize that one day. And that day is coming sooner than most of us think.

Civil War

I've often wondered why they call the war between the states 'civil' when there was nothing civil about it. Our country almost tore itself apart at that time. That the current generation, most of whom are ignorant of their own history, is behind the movement to tear down civil war monuments speaks to that ignorance. The country needed to heal after that devastating war between brothers. The Confederate monuments were a symbol of that healing. They weren't erected to celebrate racism or slavery. They were erected to recognize the courage and bravery of a people who fought for what they believed in. Most of them never owned a single slave. Though many modern historians try to tell us that war was all about slavery it was much more complicated than that. It was about states rights and the refusal to be told what to do, how to live, by a central government.

There is no question that slavery is wrong. It is an evil that almost every nation on earth has some history of. Over 500,000 Americans died paying for the sin of slavery. To help heal the rift between the winners and the losers of that civil war monument were erected in many cities to acknowledge it. In much the same way streets were named after and statues erected to Martin Luther King...to  heal a rift between two factions. Having those monuments acknowledges a time in our past where our people were violently divided by what they believed.

That time of conflict was a time very much like now. Our country is tearing itself apart by people who are beginning to see those that don't agree with them as less than they are somehow. Both sides have likened the other to Nazis...by people who have no idea how evil Nazis were. We have a history of different factions clashing; of people striving to be recognized as equals of the majority. Europeans clashed with the Native Americans, society clashed over women's rights, blacks have clashed against whites, political parties have always clashed against each other...sometimes more violently than others. These are many things that have divided us...but somehow, through it all we, eventually, came together or at least called an uneasy truce.

The time of turmoil we are entering now is only in the beginning stages. We have some dark times ahead of us. Americans, once again, seem unwilling to talk to each other...or even acknowledge the other side isn't made up of evil people...just people who disagree. We have enemies all around the globe that lie in wait to pounce on us in a time of weakness. God help us that we can come through this time of turmoil and come back together like we have in the past.

If enough people can remember that what we have in common is far greater than the things that separate us we may come through this time. If not...history has it's lessons to teach us there too. Ahead lies darkness or light...

Only time will tell...

World War III is coming...

World wars I and II were both supposed to be the wars that ended war. The trouble is...human nature hasn't changed. The technology has only gotten better. We humans are quite clever at figuring out how to kill each other in greater and greater numbers more effectively. If you are paying attention you know there is a general sense among many people that there are some very dark days ahead. The world is preparing for war.

Make no mistake about it. Many foreign leaders are doing what every chess player understands, they are positioning themselves for war. Like World Wars I & II once hostilities begin...once the first shots are fired...many nations may strike against their perceived enemies and it could spread like wildfire.

The only thing history really teaches us is that we learn nothing from history. The world is very much like it was in the 1930's...people have forgotten what real war looks like; there are waves of nationalism generated in many countries. Civil strife tears at the fabric of many countries. Economic uncertainty abounds. There are potential flash points all over the globe. India and Pakistan; India and China; China and Taiwan; North Korea and the US; Israel and it's Arab neighbors...just to name a few.

The sad fact is that every weapon ever invented by man, up to and including the atomic bomb, has been used in warfare against other human beings. The weapons we possess now almost make the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki look like toys. Nuclear weapons are horrific to be sure but biological and chemical weapons are their own kind of nightmares. Mankind has truly reached the point wherein we can destroy all life on earth. And, I'll say again, the trouble is...human nature hasn't changed.

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. And, while most humans beings have learned very little from history...those of us who have tried to learn from history are terrified because we know that one day all the weapons we've created will be used.

We've thrown God of our public discourse at a time when we need Him most. He is our only hope of deliverance...from ourselves. I take comfort in my faith that teaches me He will deliver us from ourselves but not before some very dark times ahead.

"Come let us return to the Lord..." Hosea 6:1