Declarations

What we say about our lives and what is happening around us has an effect on us and others. I'm not talking about "name and claim it" which was a central part of the theology of a church I attended for many years. I'm not talking about "The Secret" or any of the other teachings which claim we can control every aspect of our lives and get anything we want by saying the right things and concentrating intently on what we want. I've seen many disappointing situations develop in the lives of people who buy into those notions with their whole hearts and souls. (If any of you can tell me you have received everything you've ever wanted and prayed for simply by saying you want it over and over again, I would like to hear from you. You probably have reached enlightenment, and I want you to be my guru.)

Having said that, I do maintain it is important that we declare what we want to see happen rather than what we don't want to see happen. I've been thinking about this in regard to war. Doesn't it seem as though war has invaded our way of thinking? The war on drugs, the war on women, the war on guns, the war on Christmas, the war on....well, you name it, I think there might be a war on it.

Attaching the word war to so many things reduces the impact of actual armed conflict where people are maimed and killed. No matter how many manger scenes are banned from public parks, there is no war on Christmas. Maybe you are offended by those who are overly politically correct, but don't try to elevate that to the same level as war. 

As a woman, I don't accept that there is a war on me. If I buy into that I become a victim, and I am not a victim.

The war on guns is an interesting case of irony, don't you think? 

Then there's the war on drugs, which has had real consequences for many, but which has accomplished nothing in the way of helping to "fix" anything. More and more people use drugs and end up in jail for it. Nobody can ever win this supposed war.

Hostility, violence and contention are part of war. Why do we want to declare those things? Let's declare tranquility on Christmas. Let's call a truce between men and women so we can start working together to solve problems. And can we please just stop talking about guns? Nobody is going to take them away. The war on drugs needs to be undeclared and a new plan needs to be put in place.

Of course I haven't mentioned the war on terror, but I would like to declare peace in the face of terrorism and work that angle for a while. Yes, yes, I know I am naive and all of the other things my Conservative friends continue to say. But you know what? I don't care. I'm going to talk about peace anyway. Because Jesus is the Prince of Peace, not a god of war. That would be Ares or Indra or take your pick from a long list, including the goddess Athena in the name of "equal rights." I don't worship gods of war, and I'm weary of war in its every form.

We need to start saying what we want, rather than what we don't want. It's not a magic path to anywhere, but our spirits and souls suffer when we allow ourselves to be under attack by a war of words, the ones we speak and the ones we hear. Changing our talk and our thoughts won't solve everything, but without making those changes first, we won't solve anything. What we declare matters.