Gazing in the Mirror

April 16 - Senseless Violence

Any intelligent fool can make
things bigger, more complex,
and more violent. It takes a
touch of genius — and a lot of
courage to move in the
opposite direction.
~ E F Schumacher

There is no sin but a mistake,
And no punishment but an inevitable
consequence. Wrong doing must
be punished, for the Law of Cause
and Effect must be eternally operative.
~ Ernest Holmes

There are events that occur in the course of time passing that feel senseless to us. There are violent things that happen that we can't comprehend the whys of. Of course there are reasons. What happens is senseless to our own hearts, our own perspectives but whoever has been the channel for such destructive expressions always does have a reason. We don't always discover the who or the why. When we are told by authorities that it was this who and here is why we can't be certain that we have received the truth. Sometimes I believe there is a rush to reassure people that government can keep them safe. We are told that "Yes, sometimes, some person gets out of control and bad things happen but we've apprehended them now" and somehow restrained, constrained, perhaps punished them and now the threat to your security is gone and you can feel safe going about your daily life again.

Never believe it for that reason only. You will find your center again after some horrific event. You can return to your own innate inner sense of security but it doesn't come from government and you can never be certain that your "understandings" or that the information you've received is true or complete. And that part isn't necessary. You don't need to know who or why to feel a personal sense of security. It is interesting to note the effect such events have on people. Anger, fear and/or sadness are some of the common reactions. And those feeling these emotions are often not the ones who were most directly affected by whatever has happened.

Life is fragile and bad things happen to good people. This is truth. We need not absorb feelings of anger, fear or sadness when we have not been directly and personally impacted. When we are directly impacted – events will unfold as they will. Maybe we have lost our legs. Thanking all that is good that wheelchairs have become so high tech. If we breathe and are willing to live, one can go forward without all of their body. Certainly it is good and important to express compassion. It is right to realize that people are in pain and some people are heavily traumatized. My friend who lives in Boston and experienced the Boston Marathon Bombing but wasn't injured shared her emotions with us the following night, even while reassuring us that she was personally "safe". The whys are hard to wrap our minds around.

As I noticed visceral feelings of pain and fear and sadness, I was also wondering – who did this ? why did they do it ? what did they hope to accomplish ? what personal experiences led them to believe that doing such a thing was necessary ? and what higher purpose does all of this serve ? What does Spirit feel about this ? At some level I was Presence expressing sadness at humanity's ability to be cruel to other humans. It is what it is. It exists and somehow we have to come to terms with that. We don't always know why such things happen. I like the perspective that is able to remember to notice how many humans are immediately shifting into a "helping" mode in that moment. You will always find "responders" at such occurrences. If one needs relief they can always shift their perspective to that truth.

The term "senseless violence" is often used to whip up a frenzied reaction by the media. There is a danger in such perceptions. The concept can be misused "by right wing politicians who strive for more repressive measures against crimes". We must be cautious about our fears and our reactions to fearful occurrences. We need to keep a balanced perspective. We have to exercise discernment and realize that selective images of humans covered in blood, being attended to by being given aid and clearly suffering, can fuel an unrealistic interpretation of events. There is a danger that these misdirected impressions can be utilized for purposes far removed from what has actually happened – or even any real threat (usually minimal) to the mass of humanity that nevertheless now feels less secure in public places.

"Senseless violence" is often depicted as random, one-sided and disproportionate, committed in the largely anonymous context of public places with bystanders who tended to remain passive. Many of these passive bystanders are not willing to intervene in order to help the victims (though many do risk their own safety to do so). The victims of "senseless violence" can't understand why they were chosen to be victimized by perpetrators. It is termed "senseless" in that the parties are technically unknown to each other. It takes the dehumanizing of the intended victims to inflict cruelty on other people. It can be difficult to come to terms with the harm inflicted when we have no explanation or reason we can use to try and comprehend. Violence for violence sake is not easy to understand. So we are compelled to seek reasons and understandings. We want to know why a person did such a thing. Often such information is not truly available, especially when the perpetrator dies along with the victims.

~ perspective

We feel emotionally affected
when acts of violence are
shared with us via the media.
Even those close to the scene
of some horrific act rarely see
a complete picture.
Reacting to violence with an urge
to harm is not life affirming nor
will it solve the core issues.
Terrorism wins if we give in to
fear and terrorism wins if we wish
to harm in return for harm done.
Understanding the causes of and
attempting to prevent violence are
not truly moral issues.

#assistance #balance #compassion #cruelty #danger #emotion #fear #reason #safety #truth