The real enemy that we are always fighting & learning to befriend as we gain wisdom is the enemy within each of us. Language is important. What if you could be your own best friend? What if you could befriend your shadows? What if befriending your shadows took away their power over you & meant you could also understand that everyone else in this world is just struggling with their own shadows & to achieve any kind of peace, we must learn to have compassion for the shadows within and without? When we cast things out, ostracize, or condemn them, they naturally feel defensive & seek vengeance & sometimes... this leads to terrorism & wars. Peace begins within (our own selves, than our immediate families, then our borader circles of neighbors, friends, coworkers etc... & then the larger societies we inhabit). Ender wants to protect those he cares about & he doesn't want to be a killer, but he finds himself with an army that organically formed through observing his strength & tact. He hates this part of him that Battle School loves and is feeding off of. He hasn't quite fully realized its all a simulation & that he doesn't have to give in to what Battle School is trying to make of him...or have him believe (that he is some kind of savior that will save humanity from the Bugger aliens). In these chapters, he is beginning to question things that he hadn't questioned before though...after Dink challenges his idea about the place or why they're there.... It's getting intense AND... it is only going to get more intense before there is any true wisdom gained by Ender or anyone else in the story and some kind peace is reached or is gotten closer to... This might just be science fiction story... but... it's a great one and I am reflecting on what it means to love radically today... to love ourselves and others who may be different from us...how can we peacefully coexist? How can we learn to appreciate and understand differences and agree to disagree & where does it need to start? Inside our own hearts, and inside our own homes and personal relationships...it's a ripple effect. Fear and hate will breed fear and hate. And a false sense of safety that comes from believing that creating separation to protect our own beliefs will lead to peace and our own or other people's liberation.... When really, the more beautiful, evolved, & peaceful communities, families, and relationships, micro or macro scale, are those in which we embrace and thrive in our differences to make each other and the whole unit stronger. Learn to see someone else’s perspective. Why they may have gotten to the place where they're doing what they're doing. Choose Love over Fear when you are in the position to make a choice about it & realize that we all need the nurturance of healthy, non-judgmental, non fear based relationships built on trust, safety, & security to be a good "citizen," or just a generally good, non-violent person in the world. How can you create that for yourself and those in your own immediate life and community? We can't control what's happening in Isreal. Focus on what you can control. Breath. Gratitude. Love. Understanding. Acceptance. Space for Grief. Compassion for it all. All the suffering. An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. Try to love the one that hates. It's the hardest and most worthwhile thing to do. Not love in the sense of saying that it's okay to agree with violent and hurtful actions, but love in the sense of... a fierce need to understand the root causes of all suffering and how immediate compassion towards your own self & those in your immediate circle has lasting and powerful ripple effects that will keep you and your community resilient & neutralize fears. Its all in our development, attachments, & nervous system. Are you going to program yourself for war, or for love? There is strength in both & we don't have to pretend that it's one or the other. Be strong enough to defend AND love radically at the same time. 💓
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