*      Amanson: Tonight we shall speak of territory. Territory is an impression made on a mind in search of itself.  It is the false equivalent of accomplishment. Territory, as it is perceived in your world, has some worth, some value beyond its intrinsic reality as a perimetered substance, a desired piece of real estate, be it physical or intellectual. Such things are coveted when their symbolism is only half understood and is required to stand in for its missing counterpart in the coveter’s psyche.

The value of territory is its use as a nurturer, a purveyor of brother-and-sisterhood; a place where the need for the acquisition of territory is given the lie. All that can be learned from the battle for territory is the age old realization that physical reality is but an entry hall to the house of Love and Culture, a place for it to take place; a picnic cloth upon which to lay out the real purpose for the occasion: the food (which is the heart of the matter), the cloth upon which it is placed, a mere convenience. The misperception of territory is at the very heart of today’s problems -- its wrong-headed skirmishes battling for all the wrong prizes for all the wrong reasons. When the party is affable, the guests happy, kind and compassionate, willing to set aside their own immediate desires that another’s immediate needs may be met, what difference does it make whose house is hosting the party? As long as all have a home, who has need of territory?