A human is born. A human lives. A human dies. That’s life. In birth, we have no control or choice in our arrival onto earth. In death, we wait for the inevitable, unable to predict the timely passing. But in life, we have full control. We can live however we wish, because the time is ours. Suitably, humans should spend their time on earth making the most of that life, the gift of existence.
It is unthinkable that one human could cut another’s time short, or even stop it completely. It is a crime against nature, all of humanity and it is an insult to the air that we breathe, the beating heart inside our chests and the phenomenal orb we call earth.
Such an appalling offence should never occur, and yet, every second of every minute of every single day on this earth thousands of human beings are struck down by a pandemic we call war. It spreads like a filthy disease, and each of us are equally hosts and vectors, passing it on from generation to generation, infecting sons, grandsons and great-grandsons with the belief that ripping away one’s life is fine as long as you have a reason. What reason do we have? They are wrong? They are dangerous? That they will kill us if we do not do the same to them?
Perhaps, we have convinced ourselves of the old lie. That Horace spoke true when he said:
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. That it is sweet and becoming to die for one’s country. I disagree entirely. Dying for your country does not matter. It is tremendously more sweet and becoming to live for your country. To live for yourself and for others. Just to live. That is what really matters.
By simply living you break boundaries against time and space. By breathing this air you overcome more obstacles then you can count. With each heartbeat you are defying every death—causing weapon wielded in sheer hatred, every avaricious order, every lie. Surely this is the sweetest and most becoming action of all.
Armed with this knowledge, anyone has the power to end war. To do what really matters. To realise that sending whole, young people to the slaughter chains you to the sinking burden of loss. Make haste to defeat death by opposing his ally, war. Defy them both in turn by making each stride away from violence, every action positive, and living to the maximum potential of your very being.
This article by Kersandra Begley of MLC School was the Year 8/10 Winner in What Matters? 2007—a writing competition, run by The Whitlam Institute, that gives year 5-12 students in NSW and ACT a chance to say what matters in society today. For more information go to: http://www.whitlam.org/whitlam/index.php
