Imagine a world without war: tribute to John Lennon on Remembrance Day 2002: war, peace, poppy day, millennium, remembrance, remember, flanders fields, John McCraeImagine a world without war:
tribute to John Lennon

Wise Rabbit Report: Imagine...

Keywords: Remembrance Day,war, peace, poppy day, millennium, remembrance, remember, flanders fields, John McCrae

I sent out the following e-mail on Remembrance Day, 11/11/2002:

Imagine...
tribute to John Lennon

...if the leaders of our planet
decided to wage a war...
and nobody pitches up.

Sit back and imagine that for a moment...

 

At the llth hour
of the llth day
of the llth month
 of the llnd year [1]
of the lllrd millennium...

let us remember...

This past week I received the following extract in an e-mail from the author of the Tradek Market Report. Touched by the truth, I decided to embellish on it a little. My thanks to the author - isn't the Internet a wonderful place?

"An entire era ago, when traders used to do battle for their clients on the "Floor" of the Stock Exchange, which was unceremoniously cast aside by the advent of "online" trading, a dear Gentleman by the name of Harry Lane used to, for a few weeks leading up to 11 November, sell poppies at 50c a pop (weak pun). I recall as well my school years also remembering the importance of this day. But, as with many traditions and time, the poppy day theme seems to have fallen away. So, if over the weekend you come across someone peddling poppies for a few of your loose coins, take the time to stop and remember the fallen of the Great War! The tradition of "Remembrance" day is that on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month people, across the globe, stop and observe a moment's silence for those that perished (from all sides) on the fields of Flanders and died in a war that was both brutal and long! The day has since also come to be a show of support for all war veterans from all wars that return home and need support.

Flanders field, where much of the fighting took place in the Great War (1914 -1918) and where by far the most soldiers died, used to flower with a show of such beauty in the spring that it almost made a mockery of the tragedy that surrounded all the men. The flower, a Poppy, has as a result become a symbol of this tragedy and was first inspired by the famous poem by John McCrea."

Let us listen to what the dead have to say:

In Flanders Field
by Lt. Col. John McCrae, M.D. (1872-1918)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

 

Imagine
by John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possessions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

© Bag productions inc.

 

Let us remember...

  • that war is absurd
  • that war has never solved problems,
    it never has and it never will!
  • that the world will be a better place without war.
  • that history will repeat itself (war will be part of our life experience) until we have learnt the lessons war teaches us about ourselves. Only in this sence does war have a constructive purpose.
  • that the lack of peace we experience in the physical world outside of ourselves is a reflection (mirror) of the metaphysical unrest inside ourselves.
  • that to experience peace in the world outside ourselves we ALL need to experience inner peace.

Let us meet in silence at the th hour.

Edited on 19 Jan 2004

Comments on this page:

Comment made on Thursday, 01-Jan-2004 by anonymous:
"A world without war ...hm. All these kids in my classes are just randomly deciding their anti war, and want to demonstrate. instead of wasting time on this, why not honour the soldiers. WITHOUT WAR IS GOOOD??? That doesn't even make sense, some corrupt people can come into power, evil people. war is necessary."

JV (19 Jan 2004): Thank you to Anonymous who convinced me that I should delete the statements I wrote in November 2002 (I left them visible) and substitute them with something meaningful. Back then I thought I could change the world by complaining about the behavior of other people (presidents and dictators alike). Today I realize that war is a reflection (mirror) of the war inside of myself. I will continue experiencing the images of war as long as I don't come to peace within myself. The only way to stop war is to stop the war inside of me.

Therefore I agree that going on demonstrations to complain about something is indeed pointless. At the end of 2003 we experienced an upheaval of crime in South Africa and many people demonstrated, mainly accusing the current government that it has failed dismally to protect "peace loving citizens" from violence and crime. It is not the responsibility of government alone to create a peaceful society, it is the responsibility of every citizen. As long as the hearts of men and women are filled with fear, so long will our reality give us something to fear. As long as we do not have inner peace, so long will reality give us something to worry about.

There is no absolute evil, there is no right or wrong. There are people who act in an evil way and there are people who act in a good way and we have to be grateful to both types of actors, especially those who excel at doing good and evil, for helping us to gain the Knowledge of Good and Evil we need to become Enlightened.

JV (18 April 2004): On this day of a partial solar eclipse over South Africa I had a discussion with an American friend who said to me that the Constitution of the United States of America is designed in such a way as to give the mandate to the government of the USA to make the safety of its citizens its highest priority. To defend America against its enemies is the highest priority of the US government. In view of this reality I would like to add to what I have said before on this page: for as long as America experiences the need to defend itself against any enemies, for so long will they find and have enemies to defend themselves against. For so long will their reality reflect the state of the collective American mind. The need to have enemies to defend oneself against creates the reality of actual enemies. Maybe the USA should seriously consider changing its constitution to project less fear into the hearts and minds of Americans.

[1] 2000 was not the first year of the millennium! Read this article about the dating of the beginning of the millennium - 2001: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/millennium.html


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