The call to lay waste to all that we love

Ukraine Fights Rebels in Luhansk as Conflict Deteriorates

The situation deteriorates; the conflict escalates. When communication breaks down it is always the 'Other' who is to blame, who must change. who is invalidated, demonised and thus prepared for sacrifice. Power games have many layers and the power players are not those who are in the 80-90% of civilian casualties of modern wars - nor even those conditioned by hate and fear who enact the violent parts that are given them. Nor even those who posture the roles of leadership to their respective populations. Yet all of us are part of voting with our hearts for what we accept as power in our lives, and if we choose coercive manipulations that serve private agendas, then we do participate in the 'power game' - even if our part is like that of one infected PC in a botnet we don't even realise we are supporting.
I see an appetite and an eagerness for war - perhaps the dogs are on a leash and will only be allowed a limited war, but is this not the thinking that power in its hubris presumes to have? That it can limit and control war; that insanity of fear, guilt, and hate which purports to be power yet lays waste to all that we love and take joy in.
Democracy is a degraded and abused concept, but choice remains in the human heart although those who choose the coercive conditioning of the mind would not want you to know this. For they depend on your support. Although one can be baited into reaction, one can use that situation to uncover the ruse AND grow in the capacity to refuse the bait.
It remains true that one gives what is due unto Caesar - but that is as a lip-service while the heart leans ever more strongly to the true communication of the heart. But no one will hear the voice for their wholeness and sanity while they pay tribute of energy and attention to the call to war in refusal to listen.