Teacher: Devra Parker
Nearly everyday of my life I see some sort of war.
It may be a simple argument between two friends, or it might be a serious
battle seen on the nightly news. However,
in contrast, I also see harmony and peace each day.
Like when two enemies come to realize that the other is not that bad
after all. War and peace are
everywhere I look. People need to
realize that war and peace are both a way of life.
They come and go, sometimes creating changes that will affect their lives
forever. Even though the slightest
battles I see everyday around my school are not extremely serious, they are
still a form of war. They are similar to actual war in that they contain evil.
I do not think it is possible to have a war without evil.
When people hear about war, they always here about all the negative
occurrences going on. But
what good is in war?
Ben
Herbster once stated, “The greatest waste in the world is the difference
between what we are and what we could become.”
I believe that Herbster was trying to state that the world is being
wasted by evils such as hatred, jealousy, and war.
These evils destroy a world that could be a calm, blissful place, a place
where no one would fear anyone or anything.
I agree with Herbster’s quote. The
evils of the world are a waste. They
are holding the world back, keeping it average when it could be outstanding.
The same goes for my own life. Evils
such as hatred and jealousy keep me from being a better person.
They tear me apart, causing suffering not only in me, but also in others.
Why is it that a person cannot live without evils? According to the
internet, Mohandas K. Gandi once said, “I object to violence because when it
appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is
permanent.” Why waste time
consuming hate when we could use it wisely sharing love?
It is hard to understand why life is the way it is. However, it is nearly
obvious that evils like hatred, jealousy, and war are a waste of time.
They keep our world at an average level when it has the capabilities to
be out-of-this-world.
Correspondingly, someone once declared, “The thing that makes life so
cruel is that everyone has such good reasons.”
Although I do not know who said this quote or when they said it, I am
convinced that they were referring to all cruelty being never-ending.
I believe this is true. The
hatred seen in everyday life will never stop because people think they have
reasons to act stony hearted. I
think of cruel like the shape of a circle, never coming to a stopping point.
If people didn’t have reasons to be cruel, would there still be
cruelty?
Likewise, in my own life, cruelty is seen all around me.
People claim to hate one another, when in all reality they do not even
have a logical reason to hate. According
to the internet, Abraham Lincoln once said, “The best way to destroy an enemy
is to make him a friend.” I
definitely agree with Lincoln. People
might imagine something about the person they hate, but more than likely it is
not true. These people judge others
and show unreasonable hatred. But,
I must not be a hypocrite. We have
all been there at one time or another. I only dream that one day, people will come to realize the
stupidity found in their own cruelty. When
that happens, wars will turn to peace, and hate will turn to love.
Additionally, an unknown author once stated, “To preserve peace, we
need weapons of smaller and men of larger caliber.”
In most cases, I tend to agree with this quote.
What I think the author was trying to say is that in order to have peace,
we must have strong men. Only the
author wasn’t talking about physically strong men.
The author was talking about mentally strong men, those who show bravery
and courage through their words and not their actions.
They are men who do not need weapons.
Their implement of war is their seat of passion, or heart.
I can compare this to a simple “girly fight” in my own life.
If those who are fighting have enough heart to work their problems out
through talking and discussion, their fights usually conclude in peace.
However, the only statement accomplished through physical fights is an
even stronger hate toward one another. One
quote from Peace Pilgrim found on the internet states that, “This is the way
of peace: Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with
love." If it is peace that is
desired, sometimes the best way to come about it is to lay down the weapons and
sort our differences out through worthy words.
All in all, many flames can ignite an unnecessary war. Yet, if it is peace that we are truly seeking, then is it reasonable to pursue it with the use of bombs, battles, and fear? Or is war wasted time, keeping our world from showing its actual capability? I for one have seen war and peace through my own eyes and have came to understand that these events will never end. Like a shadow to our world, war and peace will always be close by. Will our world ever overcome our differences and create peace? I believe Jimi Hendrix knew what he was talking about when he said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” We must end our hateful, cruel, and evil ways, and replace them with hopeful, loving, and trustful ones. Once we have done this, life will be more pleasant and eventually peace will follow.