Commentary : A Hope Exists to ‘Cure’ the World

The fabric of life is precious beyond measure. Against the backdrop of my 32 years, the evolution of this belief appears natural, having been nurtured by the humane and gentle example of my parents, teachers and friends. I could never fully comprehend the wisdom of this instruction until I was diagnosed eight months ago with terminal cancer.

My immediate reaction to the discovery of cancer was one of personal grief and fear. With the passage of time, however, I find that I am troubled not so much by the thought of my mortality as by the fact that I have encountered it in a time and society that buzzes with the undercurrents of violence and self-destruction.

Whether it be the cinematic glorification of “deadly force,” the self-destructive use of drugs by our youth, the shocking irreverence for unborn life, the segregation of the elderly from society, or the indifference of the affluent to hunger, our culture abounds with disregard for the sanctity and miraculous value of life. This collective disregard is rooted, I believe, in our massive commitment to military power, creating a national specter of violence that numbs our individual and civic conscience.

As Albert Einstein once noted, it is impossible to simultaneously build peace and prepare for war. The attainment of true peace is incompatible with the intention to inflict harm. With its vicious cycle of threat answered by threat and fear mirrored in fear, the race for military supremacy in the nuclear age presents the following choice: continue to stockpile armaments with the ironic, yet easily predicted result that “military security” leads humanity over the nuclear abyss, or act today to preserve life believing that it is our historic responsibility to build a world beyond war.

When I was told that I had only a short time to live, I faced a choice not unlike the one I believe we face as a society. I could assume a posture of resignation, thereby making the predicted outcome inevitable. Or, I could think and act “as if” an opportunity existed to heal myself.

If I chose resignation, I know it would be impossible to live whatever time that remained to me in a meaningful and worthwhile way. I realized that I must think and act as a well person. Only in this way could I affirm the value of my own life and create the possibility for healing.

Viewing the arms race and the erosion of respect for life from a very personal perspective, I am convinced that thinking and acting “as if” peace is possible is the best means available to achieve human reconciliation and healing in a world without war.

Just as a cancer patient cannot defer the urgent and unfinished business of life, we cannot stand idly by hoping that the arms race and its accompanying moral amnesia will go away. All Americans need to begin today by constructing a personal vision of what their lives, and those of their neighbors, would be like if world peace became a reality. Imagining myself in a world without war is not unlike how I imagine I would feel if my cancer went into remission--joyful, blissful, and exhilarated, much as if I had returned home after a long and difficult journey.

The attainment of a true and lasting peace would free enormous human and material resources to accomplish America’s unfinished business of feeding the hungry, caring for the elderly and educating the young. It would liberate the wellspring of kindness and generosity among Americans that enabled us to create and renew our singular experiment in self-government.

America is a nation comprised of nations--we are the world in microcosm. That we have come so far in learning to live with one another suggests our great potential for building world peace.

And so I appeal to you my fellow citizens--I appeal to you with whom I have so proudly shared in the life-affirming work of free people. Know that the hour grows late and that the life of the human race hangs in the balance. I appeal to you because I cannot control the course of the cancer that threatens my life, but I know as never before that life is better than death, and that we must not squander the miraculous gift of life existing on this planet.

The perilous circumstances we have created display a momentum that will yield only to courageous and decisive action. In the wake of human suffering or great destruction, the need for healing and reconciliation is strong. It is time to let this instinct prevail before we are again sobered by the tragedy of war.

The act of preserving and nurturing life is an expression of our deepest faith--the faith that we are one human family called to a higher purpose than selfishness and greed, the faith that we are a bridge of justice and freedom joining the work of our parents to the dreams of our children, the faith that, like Michelangelo’s Adam, we can reach across the cosmos and touch the hand of God.