War has been a part of the history of Mankind since the beginning, but beyond the tales of glory, strategy, and raw statistics, it’s easy to forget the lives destroyed by it.
Spock: “I’ve noticed that about your people, doctor. You find it easier to understand the death of one than the death of a million.”
Star trek: the original series, “The immunity Syndrome”
In my home coin collection, I have an old, faded copper coin supposedly found from some old Roman hoard. In those days, the Romans didn’t have banks to deposit money, and if they went off to war, they’d just bury their savings in the ground. If those soldiers died, the money would just sit there until found by modern archeologists.
So, this copper coin I have, worth almost nothing, belonged to someone 1800 years ago.
It’s the connection with others, and the way War destroys that connection that truly hurts us all. We are deprived of someone’s presence when they are killed, and we are usually worse for it.
So, what Spock says is true: it’s hard to fully grasp so many dead, but if we focus on the loss of any one of them, then the true impact of war becomes clear.
Gleanings in Buddha-Fields 