Imagine...

John Lennon, the anniversary of whose tragic death was remembered recently, wrote a poem and a song which repeats the true Christmas message in what may seem a profane way. He calls upon all to hark his words and his imagination about a state of universal peace. He declared that he was a dreamer, but he still hoped that one day there will be more who would heed the call of peace in their hearts. I never tire of listening to this song, and on every time it fires emotions in me which make me reflect.

I was a guest on a radio programme early last Sunday morning as a DJ was attempting to establish a record of uninterrupted transmission for more than 58 hours. He played this song. It was a week before Christmas, I said to myself. But what a close connection there is between that song and the message of Bethlehem! No one considers the song to be a Christmas carol. The reason is, in my view, that the outer casing is more important than the content, the melody more important than the poem and its message. Unfortunately, Christmas is becoming more devoid of its essential meaning.

While we will be celebrating Christmas, a day of diminished activity, wars still go on. What is worse, is that we consider the status quo as one of peace, when wars are still raging in so many parts of the world.

Europe

Even though the Europe we know has not had any declared war on its soil for more than half a century, we cannot say that there is no threat of a new type of war. This is not being fought on battlegrounds. It is being fought next door. War has changed its face. The security measures because of a feared terrorist attack are perhaps not as blatant as the sirens sounding the alarm to take shelter from an air raid. There is a pervasive atmosphere of fear and threat which are not dispelled.

War has become more psychological, and only physical on occasions. The repercussions are the same. People fear for their own safety.

Terrorism is on the agenda of important political meetings. Terrorism overshadows any such meeting. I remember the first visit by Queen Elizabeth when I was a young boy. She was definitely more relaxed than during her last visit - and that is not attributable to age.

The cause of it all is that, as the message of Christmas says and as John Lennon sings, what is at the root of peace is the people, of good or evil will.

War is profitable

The worst scenario is that war is profitable for some, and these do have a say. In Roman times the soldiers were given a share of the spoils. In modern times, the ravages of war mean that the victors have to embark on reconstruction, and that costs a lot of money. During the war, the well known producers of arms have a suppliers' market, and consciences do not match the spoken words of politicians. There are countries which do not have enough to feed their own people but have considerable funds to spend on arms and war.

War remains profitable because it is glorified. The message of Christmas and of people like John Lennon falls on deaf ears. Possibly the sound of glorified war drowns the subtle message of peace.

As I was writing this, in the background I heard a television advertisement announce that RAI will be airing a historical analysis of Gengis Khan, "the builder of the greatest empire, from the Pacific to the doors of Europe". The victors are the heroes. The dead are there to be buried, perhaps remembered, and easily forgotten. War continues to produce wealth even when decades have passed.

Sometimes being a pacifist, and believing that there is no resolution of any conflict if there is resort to war, makes one look feeble, spineless and too timid. Wars have been always justified on some moral ground, and have been considered as bringing about peremptory solutions. Experience shows that this is not true. Possibly the only instance in history that this has been considered as having happened was during the Six-Day War in the Middle East. When was that? Or are we still hearing rumblings of that flash of a war?

For those who believe, the message of Christmas should pervade in our thinking and in our actions. For those who do not, then John Lennon's message may lead to the same converging point.

Peace be with you all.