When I was only a young boy in a Catholic grade school in
Philadelphia, possibly in sixth, seventh or eighth grade, our teacher, a nun,
played for us a newsreel on an old reel to reel projector. The newsreel was a documentary on the
liberation, by American soldiers, of a nazi concentration camp. It’s was either in the late 60’s or earlier
70’s when I was between the ages of 11-14 years old.
As a child, in those days, I had watched plenty of scary movies
with Hollywood monsters like; Frankenstein, Wolfman, and Dracula, and even though
they scared me a little I knew they were only make believe. However, what I saw from that projector that
day, horrified me beyond anything I had ever seen before; emaciated bodies,
expressionless faces, of men, women, and children who were apparently treated
worse than animals. These were the lucky
ones; they had escaped certain execution from the gas chambers, firing squad or
whatever other method of execution the nazi’s had cooked up. Then the image, that is forever burnt into my
conscience, of a bulldozer pushing a pile of dead, emaciated bodies into a big
hole in the ground. A feeling of horror
came first, and then a sickening feeling began to grow in the pit of my stomach,
and finally this evil malaise extended throughout my body. It was then, that I felt as if my life, was a
nightmare, that I was just awoken into.
The Hollywood monsters were nothing compared to these real life monsters
that perpetrated this evil.
Nothing in my life seemed the same to me after that. I now realized that I lived in a world where everyday
people could do this to other people – to me and my family. I did not wish to live here anymore. I wanted our family to get away, as fast as
possible from this house of horrors.
What a childish thought. The
petty issues, rivalries, competitions, strivings, pride, egotisms, bullying,
vanities, and every other type of BS that goes with this modern lifestyle just
seemed to exacerbate my desire to simply disappear from this cruel world. I didn't want to play the game anymore.
It was then I realized too, there was no escape, this was the
reality of my life, of everybodys life, and I simply had to push forward and live my life, just like everybody else, in the
manner my experiences taught me to - SURVIVE. I did not despair I learned to ignore. Over time though, you can only ignore for so
long. At some point you will come
face-to-face with the bad elements in this life. What then was the answer to facing the bad
element?
War. That word has
haunted me ever since. War. The final solution when all other solutions
fail. War. That, which kills, wounds, cripples millions
of people in order that others may live – so they may have children – in order
that they may kill or be killed, someday, so that others may live – so forth
and so on. War. War.
War. It was simply an integral
and natural part of life like having children, going to school, or having a
job. War. It is what we as humans have been perfecting
for thousands of years. It is not to be
questioned or feared…it is our fate…kill or be killed…that is the hand we have
been dealt.
On the other hand, acts of kindness, lending a hand,
sacrificing and serving others, giving your time, talent and treasures to build
the city of God, this is what Jesus taught us to do – to follow. This is how we find peace – in a world filled
with war. Not through strength of arms
but through the strength of our faith.
True peace comes from God. This
present world is not to be feared.
Instead our focus is on love – our love of God, our families, friends and
those who have been misled by this broken world. His peace will come to you, if you repent of
your sins, love and follow Him.
May His peace be with you!
