December 11, 2002

A Modest Proposal – Wage Holy War

Although this is traditionally the season of peace, the scent of war is in the air. It seems that all wars have some kind of righteousness attached to them. Some are even described as “holy,” and that is what I want to explore this month.

What is a holy war anyway? It is a war fought in the name of or on behalf of a deity. Makes me wonder why a deity, presumably more powerful than humans, needs us to go to war for its sake. Maybe it’s a variation of, “If you really love (worship) me you would… destroy the heathens who don’t worship me.” I don’t know absolutely about that, but certainly there has been enough mayhem and disemboweling done in the name of gods throughout history and the world to give holy wars a bad name.

I’d like to change that. I propose waging a respectable holy war.

“What? Has he gone loony tunes? Too many sugarplums must have given him a sugar high. Or was it too many Christmas television commercials intermixed with news flashes about people of one religious persuasion being blown up by other people of a different religion?”

Well, it’s actually none of those. I am talking about something different – a true holy war. To have a holy war, we need warriors. I suggest warriors of the light. Who are they? Your definition is as good as mine, but we need to start somewhere. I propose for this proposal (excuse the redundancy) that a warrior of the light is anyone who strives to use the power of the light to dispel darkness. No, I am not talking about Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader squaring off with light sabers.

You can be or already may be a warrior of the light. How do you know if you are, and if not, how do you become one? First, you need to know the difference between the light and the dark, spiritually speaking. Light shines whenever any of us is practicing unconditional love and acceptance. That is to say, being a warrior of the light is a stand for allowing whatever is present in the moment to be whatever it is. No changes, no fine-tuning, no tweaking are being contemplated not to mention attempted.

Second, a warrior of the light does not consider the dark to be evil or bad. This makes sense because to do so would to not be practicing unconditional love and acceptance. The dark is simply an absence of light, and actually enables light for without the dark, there would be nothing but light and thus not identifiable. A bit confusing perhaps, but work on it – you’ll get it. Readers of this newsletter have an IQ 36% higher than the average person.

OK, we have warriors of the light. Who is the opposition and how do we wage this holy war? Well since we have warriors of the light, there must be warriors of the dark, and in whose name, deity wise, is the war to be fought? I guess warriors of the dark are those who are not unconditionally loving and accepting. They are opinionated, judgmental, righteous, and close-minded. That sounds a lot like warriors of the light when they are not being warriors of the light. Could we be talking about the same people at different times? Why, I think so – oh my, what a dilemma this is!

Now I have created a bipolar, schizophrenic, dual personality army fighting itself. What a mess! Let’s muddle this up some more and identify the deity involved in this holy war. Can’t have a holy war without a deity. OK, how about God – doesn’t get more powerful than the creator of the Universe. A quick summary: we have warriors of the light and the dark (who happen to be the same people – us) fighting a holy war in the name of God. All we need now is some superficial reason for the war.

I got it. The dark forces want to overthrow the light forces because if the light forces have their way (little chance of that the way things are going at present) then the dark forces are not just vanquished they are vanished. Every army has a banner or a flag. The warriors of the light carry a banner that says, “Duality.” Now the warriors of the dark also have a banner – let me see (it is dark you know), why, it also has “Duality” emblazoned on it. This is becoming too much – both armies are fighting for the same thing!

Why, you may ask, are they fighting at all? Why do we need this holy war between the light and the dark? The reason is the same reason why all wars, holy or unholy, are fought. Fear. Since fear is a human invention, then no holy war could truly be holy since God did not create fear. We did. I think I have talked myself out of a job as a promoter of holy wars. It was kind of messy anyway, too complicated.

Does the light fear the dark and vice versa? As in all duality, when the two “sides” are closely examined, they become simply two aspects of the same thing, and once more, we realize that duality is an illusion. It is the shirt tossed over the back of a chair in a small child’s bedroom. Absent of light, the shirt and chair seem like a monster. When the light is turned on by an anxious parent responding to the terror of the child the monster once more becomes simply a chair and a shirt. Dark. Illusion. Fear. Light. Love. Safety.

This is always that chain reaction and it is the product of our humanness, and there is nothing wrong with it. It’s what we do as humans. But when some of us get stopped at the fear stage unable to move forward to light, love, and safety, then life becomes full of unhappiness, frustration, and often anger. It does not need to be that way.

This time of the year is about giving. In addition to the material things that you give, how about giving a gift of light? There is an inexhaustible supply that is available to everyone. How do you give a gift of light? Find a warrior of the dark, and let him or her know that it is absolutely all right to be whoever she is; that you accept him exactly the way he is. You know what, that warrior of the dark may instantly transform into a warrior of the light. All because of you. Being MAD, Making A Difference, is always in season.

I have an expression that is one of the foundations of what I do: “You can never give to someone that which only he can give himself.” Sometimes the gift of light is not accessible by the person who needs it. Where is a warrior of the light when you need one? Usually she is not far away – maybe at the next desk or workstation, across the aisle, in the next seat, or in your living room.

In closing this Modest Proposal, I think that we can wage holy war, a new kind of holy war, not against one another or ourselves, but against fear. It is a war that all of humanity can fight together against something that really does not exist. Should be easy to win, huh?

Blessings to all of you and best wishes for 2003…

In the Light,
Ron McCray

Comments and counter proposals are welcome. Please email ron@RonMcCray.com.