In the Scheme of Things

The most accurate definition to describe the character of modern Western culture is the word consumerism. The thing that drives nearly every aspect of the way we live our lives and who we understand ourselves to be rests in the dynamics of consumerism.

Fresh off the most recent series of political accusations and counter-accusations by candidates and commentators, it is useful to understand something of the nature of aggression.

Whether verbal, physical or psychological, aggression inspires a cycle of revenge that continues to poison relationships through time.

Why is it we human beings are so prone to engage in violence? How is it that when we attack one another aggressively we find ourselves caught up in ever-expanding cycles of aggressive behavior?

Having just watched the YouTube video of four United States Marines urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the question becomes what does this have to say about the American people and who we are as a war-making nation?

The Marines were members of a scout sniper team, highly trained combat specialists within the Marine Corps reconnaissance units. Along with their expertise in combat, they also are schooled in the rules of war.

I've always had a problem with the concept of hope.

It has seemed to me we too often are called to rely on hope as a call to face the future with blinders. It is to disregard the dark and focus only on the light, even if the light is a product of our optimistic fantasies. This optimistic hope is most often what we turn to when we live in denial of the truths that our lives encounter.

As we begin this New Year it appears that intolerance has become a powerful force in our world.

The hope of the Arab Spring seems to be turning into a winter of discontent. The light of an incipient democratic movement has been taken hostage by Islamic fundamentalism.

It was Christmas Eve. I was watching TV – one of those retro-channels that play reruns over the air rather than broadcasting on cable or satellite. The program was a 1977 Christmas Eve show of “All In the Family,” entitled “Edith’s Crisis of Faith.”

Two days after the world welcomes in the New Year, Republicans in Iowa will head to caucus sites to pick a candidate to run for the U.S. presidency.

The world stands, as always, in the shadow of war. Even now, this December, as U.S. troops disengage from their war-making roll in Iraq, American military private contractors will continue a presence in the Iraqi nation. As we continue to engage Taliban, Al Qaeda and other potential enemy terrorists in Afghanistan, the threat of war looms across the Afghanistan borders with nuclear-armed Pakistan on one side and potentially nuclear-armed Iran on the other.

The number one box office success at movie theaters across the country for the last several weeks was 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1.' For those who do not know, it is the first part of Stephenie Meyers’ fourth novel in her 'The Twilight Saga,' a story about the marriage of Bella Swan, a young human woman, to Edward Cullen, a vampire. Edward, though appearing to be just 17 when he and Bella met, is actually a vampire-man over 100 years old.

Wendell Berry is a farmer, writer and recipient of The National Humanities Medal. In his writings he reveals hidden truths, truths many would rather not face. He is, perhaps, a conscience from which we would rather turn away.

Born in 1934 in rural Henry County Kentucky, his poems are a reflection of a life lived in a deep relationship with the land and with all the creatures that inhabit the land. In his poem on “How to Be a Poet” he writes:

“There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places

and desecrated places.”