The Eskimos Have No Word for War - January 20, 1010

Trying to explain it to them

Leaves one feeling ridiculous and obscene....

They listen politely, and stride away

with spears and sleds and barking dogs

To hunt for food....

....Later, by fires and boiling bones

In steaming kettles, they welcome me,...

To share what they have in a hungry time

In a difficult land. While I talk on

Of the southern kingdoms, cannon, armies

Shifting alliances, airplanes, power,

They chew their bones, and smile at one another.

How many words for war does our language have? Looking into a thesaurus I see:

conflict

combat

warfare

fighting

confrontation

hostilities

battle

campaign

struggle

crusade

competition

rivalry

feud

battle

struggle

I add these words to this heavy list from my own life and experiences:

ego

spiritual practice

letting go and letting love

fear

desire

blame

judgment

letting the beauty I love be what I do (Rumi)

Mary speaks of the rhythm of the Eskimo's life - hunting, maintaining the village, cooking, and sharing meals. In their simplicity, in their acceptance of a harsh life, they have rid themselves of our species' propensity for war. I wonder how a daily rhythm under the firm hand of reality could shape us so that there was a constant knocking upon the door of joy, which with the sun's rise, might just open.

What words do you have for what wars within you and without? How do you build peace to the rhythm of life and not to the rhythm to the drums of war?