A distraught, little girl looks off into the distance as her daddy walks
away. She has just said goodbye,
and she is uncertain if he will ever return.
Her mommy repeatedly tells her to pray for peace.
She does not understand why he has to leave.
It has been explained to her that he is in the army and his unit has been
summoned to active duty. She hears
all kinds of confusing discussions about the new war.
But, this still does not explain why her daddy must depart.
In her eyes, there is no concept of war; therefore her daddy should not
be confiscated from her life. Just
last week, they shared a tea party together.
She was unsuspecting in that time of peace about what tragedy was to
come. Now, the unthinkable has
happened to her. Mankind will be
faced with an extremely important decision in the upcoming weeks and months.
During these dark, turbulent times, men need to rise above childlike fear
and scrutinize situations with a better perspective.
In this time of war, the human race needs more people to boost peace efforts. An unknown source once said, “To preserve peace, we need weapons of smaller and men of larger caliber.” Unfortunately, the source of this quote is unknown. As a result, the intended interpretation of his or her quote is also unknown. But, one can speculate that the author had probably lived through some form of war in his or her lifetime. Nonetheless, his or her words can be applied to worldly issues today.
This simply implies that we do not need to keep inventing and producing larger weapons. For centuries now, countries have competed with one another to be the most powerful nation in the world. In that process, weapons have become more powerful and more deadly then ever before. This malicious process should stop. Instead, we should focus on raising people of higher quality. Peace preservation is not found on the battlefield; rather, it is found in the negotiation room. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Peace, like charity, begins at home.” To raise people of higher quality, mankind must concentrate on educating the young people about all races and nationalities. This would aid in bridging the education gap between many nations.
Others believe that peace is the only way. “I prefer the most unjust peace to the justest war that was ever waged,” stated Cicero in a letter to Atticus. Cicero was professing that peace is the best possible solution for any type of disturbance. All forms of peace are better than any forms of war. Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” Let us not make the same mistakes over and over again. Some countries might try to give good, just reasons for waging war on other countries. Cicero is stating that no justification is better than peace. He would rather have peace.
Cicero was born on January 3, 106 B.C., and lived during the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. He was a statesman, lawyer, scholar, and writer. Supporting republican principles was his passion. On December 7, 43 B.C., Cicero was murdered. Throughout his life, he primarily focused on politics. He also lived through some of Rome’s civil wars. Thus, Cicero was aware of war’s horrific effects. The experiences of war turned him into a peace-loving man. Although Cicero lived long ago, his words are still applicable to the world we live in today.
The plane just flew in. The young girl’s daddy has finally come home. She has missed him so much. She holds her mommy’s hand as they anxiously wait for him to appear from the terminal. When he finally emerges, they both give him a warm welcome home with hugs and kisses. The new war is over. Both sides of the fighting decided that the battle was not worth the cost of human lives. They are now negotiating for peace. The little girl feels that her prayers have been answered. It is time for mankind to take a stand for peace. In these times disturbance, it is important to overcome fear and to look at situations with an abundant amount of understanding, thus making the world a better place.