Love: A Casualty of War...

A while back, we had a post called, True Love, that gave some insight into the fate of a relationship in a war zone.

This post continues the theme with, When Love Is a Casualty of War.

From the Blog:

"'My Lebanese girlfriend does not want to listen to The Cure’s song “Killing an Arab.'

“'Turn it off,' she demands.

"This is odd. Helen is a huge Cure fan; in fact, I never really listened to The Cure until we started dating. I turn around to face her, my mind racing to produce some witty remark that will make her laugh and defuse the sudden tension, but our eyes meet and I am utterly disarmed. I hear her sigh as she walks away.

"It’s not that Helen doesn’t like this particular song, it’s that she doesn’t like songs about killing Arabs, especially when in real life, our peoples are killing each other day after day. We cannot enjoy the song’s catchy rhythm or ironic lyrics when bombs fall and Katyushas fly. What used to be a harmless song has become an unwanted reminder of the gulf that exists between us.

"Together, Helen and I had tried to create a tidy little universe with a population of two. In this universe, it didn’t matter that I was a Jew and Helen was an Arab. We were beyond the politics.

"On our first date, we set a precedent by skipping out on a proposed tour of the Lincoln memorial, preferring to tour each other’s contours rather than those of a lifeless statue. As the months passed, we discovered that Helen’s attempts to teach me French were as doomed as my own throat-clearing lessons in the correct pronunciation of challah, her favorite new food. We could even laugh at the irony when Helen peeled off my sweater to reveal a T-shirt emblazoned with “Don’t Worry America, Israel Is Behind You.”

"Politics slumbered alongside us. Sometimes it spoke in its sleep, sometimes it rolled over, but it did not wake up.

"And then, the war..."

This post is absolutely worth reading to the end; so, here's that link again:

When Love Is a Casualty of War.

True Love

Not sure what year that picture was taken (early 1900s to be sure) and I sure wish I could have found a different one...

I'll go with what I've got [seems like a possible attribute of "True Love", eh?].

Check out the two people in the extreme upper right. It's a white woman and a black man and they're married.

Louis George Gregory and Louisa Mathew showed true love in spite of the fact that their "marriage was a challenge to the social convention of that time, and was even a criminal offense in some states."

Now, let's move rapidly ahead in time (though we surely won't out run prejudice...).

This picture is from a BBC News article, Star-crossed lovers quit West Bank.

This is Jasmine Avissar and Osama Zaatar. She's a Jewish Israeli and he's a Palestinian Muslim.

I'll share just a few quotes from this heart-wrenching True Love Story:

"First they tried to live in Israel, but the Israeli authorities would not allow Osama to join his wife there.

"Then they tried living in the occupied West Bank, but some Palestinians made life difficult for them.

"Now they've given up and are moving to Europe....

"Jasmine already has permission to go. Osama hopes to follow her soon....

"Neither Israeli nor Palestinian society has accepted their marriage....

"They turn and walk the short distance to the checkpoint that leads out of the West Bank and into Israel....

"Osama cannot go through the checkpoint with Jasmine. They don't know when he will be able to join her in Europe.

"They are still a couple caught in the middle of the Israeli Palestinian conflict."

I want to leave this post on True Love with a quote from the Greatest Human Lover I've ever known:

"Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of God's holy Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-Merciful, the fountain of spiritual outpourings. Love is heaven's kindly light, the Holy Spirit's eternal breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God's revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things. Love is the one means that ensureth true felicity both in this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation."

---

1. Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá (Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1982), p. 27.

Armageddon and Love

Armageddon: the scene of the final battle between the kings of the Earth at the end of the world.

< This image is from an atheist's view of the "End Times".

When will this final battle take place?

Is it happening now?

Who are the "kings of the Earth"?

What is the actual shape of the "battle"?

Religious interpretation is something only the brave, studious, or pure in heart should attempt...

I certainly won't attempt any serious interpretations, just a few imaginative ideas and a simple commentary.

Can you imagine that "kings" could mean "those in power" or the "source of power"?
If you can, consider the following ideas:

Anyone ever tell you the most predominant form of life on Earth is the lowly germ?

Can you imagine a battle between human kings and germs?

Check out: Pandemic flu may be only two mutations away.

Can you imagine a battle between human kings and Mother Earth herself?

Check out: Blame for global warming placed firmly on humankind.

Seems there are a number of responses to "the end of the world":
~ Fright
~ Flight
~ Paralysis
~ Prayer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Things a person might die from:

* Old age
* Disease (normal)
* Disease (terrorist)
* Accident
* Physical attack (personal)
* Physical attack (war, terror, ecological, etc.)
* Psychological attack
* Boredom
* Fill-In-The-Blank

Ralph Waldo Emerson sums up my feeling about death in this world at war:

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Tags: "global warming", armageddon, love, pandemic, terrorists, war