The Nations Go To War. The People Watch in Horror.

What's that line from Lawrence of Arabia? The One About Old Kings and Young Soldiers.

“The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.”

-Lawrence from Lawrence of Arabia.

We live in strange and interesting times. WW3 has essentially kicked off, and I am sure many of you feel torn by this.

Large corners of the internet show us the true horrors and dangers of war. Which can be helpful and healthy for us to retain our humanity about it and stay educated on what’s happening.

Though, at the same time, there is a tsunami of dishonesty; propaganda, paid political influencers, censorship and many more morally bankrupt stratagem that various nations, organizations and other interest groups are doing to sway you from seeing the situation clearly.

The loudest voices seem to continually get the soap box. Unfortunately, the loudest voices are often times the most ignorant and apathetic too.

As a result, we are left with what Aldous Huxley called “Truth drowned in a sea of irrelevancy.”

The most reasonable voices now compete with the loudest ones, in an arena with so many other loud noises and distractions, so that barely any of our words reach the surface of that sea of information.

Many of us simply want to cry out

“Leave the innocents alone.”

“There are better ways to solve this.”

“Whatever happen to talking?”

“Why aren’t the most powerful nations stepping in to put a stop to this?”

“These are war crimes…”

Though no matter how many ways we say it, no matter how many times we repeat it, it always seems to fall on deaf ears.

Despite the many people coming against the world throwing itself over a cliff, it does so anyway.

Which means there are forces at work beyond our understanding, and seemingly, beyond our control.

It becomes so overwhelming, that eventually, we need to take a step back, and return to living life.

But the knowing of what is still going on and getting worse by the day haunts us.

We may revisit the culture war a 100 more times. Getting in the trenches and fighting in whatever way we can from our keyboard. Which never feels like enough. As genuine as a gesture it may be, it just ends up invoking an awkward shame, as we type our condolences and criticisms from the safety of our home, 5000 miles away from any real danger.

A sort of survivors guilt may set in as you see the number of innocent lives lost, ticking on the screen like a stock price.

I didn’t write this in hopes to provide an answer. I’m at the same place you are. Stuck between two worlds, feeling a bit helpless and ineffectual.

If I were to give any advice, I would say, stick to your convictions, no matter what. Oppose brutality, tyranny and bloodshed with every breath.

When you can, and when they will listen to you, speak of peace. Speak of loving thy neighbor, and intelligently identifying the sources of conflict. Remind them of the incredible potential human beings have to get out of tough situations.

And breath deeply. Take the time to make sure that you are doing well. Mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. This is hard for all of us, in different ways.

I pray for the ending of these conflicts and for the criminals responsible to be brought to justice. I pray that the innocent people who have suffered the most, get some recompense, some relief from the tragedy and pain.

And more than anything, I pray for a miracle. Lord knows we need one.

“There's nothing further here for a warrior. We drive bargains. Old men's work. Young men make wars, and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men. Courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace. And the vices of peace are the vices of old men. Mistrust and caution. It must be so.”

-Prince Feisal from Lawrence of Arabia.