Spiritual author and counselor for 25 years; ordained omnifaith minister, corporate consultant on the spirit of business; blogger for Ode Magazine on peace and for The Huffington Post on spirituality in the world. For all Dr. Corso loves and creates, continually visit http://www.susancorso.com You can read her personal blog at http://www.seedsforsanctuary.com
The long-awaited report from General David Petraeus on the ground in Iraq is due in the U.S. capital this week. Does anyone else hear his name as Betray Us?
I don’t think that’s his intent. I think General Petraeus wants to tell the world the truth about the surge strategy in Iraq. He may not be allowed to do so. In recent weeks, much has been made of White House speechwriters tackling the General’s report to make it fit for public consumption. The truth doesn’t need spin-doctors.
Confucius inspires me. “When purpose is directed, one becomes calm. When one is calm, then peace can be found.” Track them through Iraq with me.
Has purpose been directed? It has, but at incorrect intelligence leading to incorrect assumptions. Anyone else noticed how incorrect premises lead to less-than-productive actions which produce unhappy results?
What is our genuine purpose in Iraq? I can’t answer this question. The whole matter has been so spun, so doctored I can’t find the truth any more.
We need a new genuine purpose. The point Confucius makes is that when purpose is genuine, there is a natural result we may expect. Calm. There’s nothing calm about Iraq any more. Not in Washington, D.C. Not in the American populace. Maybe not even in the rest of the world. And certainly not in Iraq itself.
Is there calm to be found anywhere? Right now, I don’t think there is. It’s unfortunate because if our purpose were named Peace In Iraq, there would be a natural genuineness to it. Peace is a bottomline purpose for all people. It’s the one thing we can agree on that humans most universally want.
What we have trouble agreeing on is how to get there. Thomas Mann wrote, “War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.”
Peace does cause problems. Peace takes time. Peace requires commitment. Peace means we don’t always know how to proceed. Peace means we get to listen and really work to hear. Peace means there are insurmountable differences that we get to figure out how to surmount. Peace requires courage. Peace asks for a long-range view rather than short-term gain. There are all sorts of inconveniences peace puts us through.
I agree with Thomas Mann. War is a cowardly escape. Let’s take a page out of the book of one of the best-loved cowards of all time, the Cowardly Lion. When he goes off to see The Wizard (of Oz), all he wants is “the noive.”
Find your noive this week and hold the idea of Peace In Iraq as a new genuine purpose. Sit in the calm you generate and help the U.S. find its new mission. Operation Iraqi Peace.
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