I have been thinking about Taimyo, the meditation for peace.

I have been thinking about about Pearl Harbor, about Hiroshima.

I have been thinking about the Vietnam war, about Iraq, about 9-11-2001.

I have been thinking about Shakespeare’s Henry V.

I have been thinking about soldiers, the brother/sisterhood of soldiers, the confusion and pain and anger of soldiers.

I have been thinking about The War Between the States.

I have been thinking about the methodical slaughter of Jewish communities during the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Holocaust. The ethnic slaughters in Africa and Eastern Europe.

I have been thinking about the destruction of the ancient Palestinian olive trees. The Buddhas in Afghanistan.

I have been thinking about bleeding children, burned children, children without limbs.

I think about what its like to drop bombs, to never see up close what the land looks like before you bomb it, nor after. To never see what or whom you have destroyed. To cause so much suffering and destruction with less feedback than you might get from a video game.

I’ve been thinking about the term ‘collateral damage.’

I’ve been thinking about the simple clarity of the statement: Thou shalt not kill.

This isn’t a perfect essay. I don’t have answers--but it’s essential to believe there are answers. That it is possible for humans to behave a different way. Without that belief, all of our thinking and behavior go toward supporting destructive reactions to conflict.

In our nation alone we spend billions of dollars on weapons. Robots and planes and missiles and mines and poisons. Ways to break an enemy. How much do we spend on the resolution of conflict without war? The prevention of conflict?

The study of civility.

We don’t have to start knowing all the answers.

The first step is to imagine as an individual: peace is possible. The second is to decide it is preferable. The other steps will follow.