STOP THE VIOLINS! VISUALIZE WHIRLED PEAS!
I saw these two bumper stickers several years ago, and I love them because they really make us stop and think. March 19, 2007, was the fourth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, and I can't help but feel that nothing has really changed. I don't just mean with the current U.S. government. Human beings in general have not really changed that much. When my 19-year-old nephew Charlie was 8, he asked: "Chris, what's the most dangerous animal in the world?" I tried to guess, but before I could, he exclaimed: "Humans are the most dangerous animals in the world!" I had to agree. We are the ONLY animals who kill for pleasure; and wage long wars on others.

Humans will probably never stop killing, because aggression and the capacity to kill are by-products of our evolutionary past. These traits helped us protect or secure territories that contained necessary resources like food, water, and mating opportunities. But enough is enough! We also have a THINKING brain!

University of Oxford researcher Irina Bystron and her colleagues recently identified that the very first neurons in the human cerebral cortex (the part of the brain that sets us apart from all other animals) are in place much earlier than previously thought – approximately 31 days after fertilization. The cerebral cortex is concerned with cognition, perception, memory, thought, language, mental ability, intellect, consciousness, and our voluntary actions. Of course there are individual, genetic and biochemical predispositions that shape how we handle aggressive tendencies in our lives; but when you realize that humans have the building blocks in place for cognitive thought and voluntary action when the embryo is only 4 mm long, and before the development of arms, legs or eyes, isn’t it high time that we learn how to think and act differently about how to solve aggression and violence in the world?

The song, Let There Be Peace on Earth, begins: "Let there be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with me" and I agree. Before we criticize other people (your spouse, relative, colleague, friend), or governments and nations for their aggressive behaviors, we must also examine our own traits. It's important to do all possible to understand the history of our own aggression, even if it is passive aggression, and make concerted efforts to change that kind of energy. Whether engendered from our family of origin experiences, our current circumstances, or from genetic or biochemical predispositions, there is plenty of help available to change the way that we react to the world around us. So I encourage you to examine your heart and your mind, and clear any aggressive energy that may be stopping you from feeling more peaceful, centered, loving, and present in your life.

Chris : )
*Originally published on 4.1.07 in my Integrity Blogin Blog.