What began as a small cloud of dust on the horizon has now grown to fill the sky. Our world has seen such a cloud before. It is the cloud stirred up by a world at war. Once again the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are on the ride. We know their names well: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. Now, as they draw near, we can make out their faces as well.
We see them not as individual men but as representatives of radically different forms of human consciousness. As you know, war is not a function of our biology, it is a function of our state of mind. Together, these Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse represent a state of consciousness that can actually bring an end to not only the human race but quite possibly to all forms of life on this beautiful little planet.
War, Famine, and Pestilence are now so close that their faces are clear. We have seen such likenesses often in recent days, for their features resemble those of Sharon, Bush, and bin Laden. Together these Horsemen represent the consciousness of an inflexible righteousness so rigid that people with these mindstates have left themselves only two options: victory or annihilation. People who are deeply attached to these states of consciousness have lost their ability to reason as fully empowered human beings. They are incapable of comprehending any point of view that diverges from their own, and their vocabulary no longer includes words such as empathy, compromise, and fairness.
The overwhelming majority of human beings on this planet, however, are not as rigid as those who are now in positions of great power. On the individual level, even former enemies on the battlefield find they can become friends when they discover they have much in common. And yet they are often coerced into fighting wars and are ordered to kill one another. Others, while fortunate enough to avoid the front lines, unintentionally support the slaughter of innocents by remaining silent. While knowing in their hearts that government sanctioned murder (war) is insane, they do not speak out against it. Their souls cry out for peace and justice, but their voices are not heard, for they have permitted fear, greed, hate, and envy to dominate their consciousness. Like mute zombies they have collectively assumed the role of the Fourth Horseman. Theirs is the silent face of Death.
Without realizing the consequences of their silence, these poor souls have lost sight of their own power. Each day they are force-fed information that has been carefully crafted by large corporations and governments. They try to believe what they read in their newspapers and see on TV, yet deep in their hearts they know they are being lied to. The democratic majority of voters in the United States did not cast their ballots in favor of the men who are now in power. And most people in this country do not want to see another world-wide war, yet far too many remain silent, afraid to speak out against the insanity of continuing this new war. We are told that this war will not end in our lifetimes. We are told that terrorists must be rooted out in another 60 nations. Does this mean that we will obliterate 60 more countries as we have Afghanistan? Are our grandchildren’s children also destined to have friends come home from distant lands in body bags?
Now that even small groups of radicals have access to nuclear and biological weapons, the potential for a global catastrophe is quite real. All it will take is for the last Horseman to come up to speed. Three of these Horsemen are already near, but they cannot fulfill their mission without that fourth rider, the silent one. It is thus up to each and every one of us who value love above war to speak up. Quickly, we must convince our friends, relatives, and neighbors to dismount and begin to support peaceful solutions to the problems we humans have created for ourselves. Without a rider that fourth horse will return on its own to the meadow. And without the fourth Horseman there can be no Apocalypse.
