War is not inevitable. War is not natural. War is not abstract.
It is real and it is awful.
In school, to pass tests, I needed to know about wars and who won them.
Later in life, after having visited a number of post-conflict communities from Colombia to the edge of Myanmar, I know the real answer is that everybody loses.
And most people around the world know that too, especially those who have lived through war. When I was born, Ukraine had more nuclear weapons than anyone except for two nations. In 1994 they chose to give them up, making one of the largest strides towards peace within my lifetime.
Today in St. Petersburg, thousands of Russians are packed in the street, shouting “No to War” and “Ukraine is not our enemy.”
The world was definitely not in need of another crisis or another threat to vulnerable lives.
Some days are extra heavy. So full of evil. As I read about the invasion of Ukraine followed by threats to LGBT+ kids in Texas and Florida makes me wish that there was so much more I could do. It angers me that the people with the most ability to impact lives so often use it destructively.
But it does fill me with a sense of determination. To not squander the opportunity I do have- no matter how small it feel at a global scale, it’s not zero. Every day I get to make decisions that affect other people near and far. While today was heavy enough to make my to-do list fee irrelevant, it also was an invitation to make sure everything on there would be on a worth-doing list.
There Are No Winners at War
