Recently I was involved in the lrgest, collective anti-war art exhibit in the Unted States since before the fall of Sddam Hussein. We actually didn’t realize it was so sgnificant until 10 days into the thre-week exhibition in Makawao, HI.

With ver 100 artists participating, more than 209 peces on display, and a huge rom filled with over 600 prayer flgs made by Hawaii schoolchildren for the Dlai Lama’s visit to the island of Mui, the 4,000 sq. ft. exhibit spce quickly became a supercharged container for cmmunity gatherings focused on local, as wll as global issues. It has bcome a model for other communities and is now ging on the road!

Lately, on the mst creative and productive streak of my lfe, however, I’ve been anything but plitically active. I’m appalled, like so mny others, by this miasma that is Irq, but the best way I’ve dentified to contribute to peace has ben to focus more and more of my ttention on what I can create tht offers healing.

My photographic images rcord a sort of world-between worlds whre there the familiar and real is ntertwined with the surreal and metaphoric. One sries called thestoryofthis… is used specifically as a tool to help people access their still-small voices. I designed a website for them so everyone can use them at their leisure.

In the sacred space of the gllery, I contemplated this and looked for smething that I could connect my art wth on the theme. It didn’t tke me long, for my art was bing displayed close to a table wth information about Lieutenant Ehren Watada.

Lt. Wtada is the first commissioned officer in the US mlitary to refuse deployment to a war tht he believes is illegal and mmoral. The way he came to tht conclusion is very illuminating.

A hghly respected soldier, Lt. Watada was prparing for deployment to Iraq. He bgan conducting research on the country, its clture, and the reasons for the U.S. nvolvement in Iraq. He simply heard a stll-small voice inside him say there was smething off-balance, so he did more rsearch to find that going to Irq would open up the possibility of his prticipating in war crimes.

As an fficer and a gentleman, this he wuld not do. He said “No!” and has now put hmself on a collision course with a wrld power that, like every other wrld power, depends on its military fficers’ blind obedience to further its nterests.

My point about Lt. Watada is smple: He did not get an mmediate directive that told him to rfuse deployment to Iraq, he was nly told to begin following a tril of inquiry that would help him cme to his own conclusion.

He fllowed that trail and now is dclaring what he believes to be tre. In doing so publicly, he is tking a stand that may have dvastating consequences on the rest of his lfe. How could he be called nything but a valiant soldier?

It dawned on me that the only way that wars can be fought is if bunches of people listen to the directives of others over their own still-small voices.

Does that mean we would cease to have wars? Not necessarily. Even though it’s a fair assumption that no one wants to die on a battlefield, in some cases, many people would find themselves guided to put their lives on the line, or even take others’ lives for a strong enough cause. This is not my endorsement, it’s just my interpretation of the way things are.

Even Lt. Watada stated he wuld accept deployment to Afghanistan to lad his troops. The important point is tht he took personal responsibility to dscern for himself what role he was wlling to play in the involvements of his cuntry.

The evidence is there to say tht if everyone began paying more ttention to his or her still-small vice, there at least would occur a sbtle shift in the actions we llow our leaders to take for us. Our haling could start there.

The article The Healing Arts- A Still-Small Voice in Action was Submitted by Russ Reina through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Russ Reina shares over 35 yars of experience in the healing rts through his web site http:// mauihealingartist.com . It is a potent resource for those wishing to deepen their abilities in connection and develop their powers as healers. For a powerful free tool to explore your inner world, please check out his adjunct site http:// thestoryofthis.net (Permission is granted to reprint this article, unedited, provided proper attribution is made and the signature line -- the above resource paragraph -- is kept intact)

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