We have options when responding to a violent act. One is the natural one, to turn toward animosity. The other is the supernatural one, to turn toward love.
We have an amazing power at our disposal in the linking of prayers for those who have been affected, that they may find consolation and healing. We pray for those who are trying to solve this crime, that they are one with the mind of wisdom and that anyone with knowledge about it is given the courage to come forward to them. And we pray for those who would perpetrate such crimes, that their minds, hearts and souls may receive the grace they need to return to love.
As a marathoner, this atrocity hit home in an unexpected way. For the sake of the running community, I am filling my heart with as much love as possible in order to let it pour forth into a thirsty world.
Pace et bene,
David +
Showing posts with label non-violence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label non-violence. Show all posts
Monday, April 15, 2013
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Reflections on Today's Street Fight
Today, at mid-afternoon, I was in a pleasant neighborhood, walking out to my car, parked in the lot behind a family-run restaurant on one of the main streets in town.
I noticed a commotion, and looking beyond my car saw a young woman atop a young man, straddling his chest and fiercely beating him about the head and shoulders while another young man watched with apparent disinterest.
I called out to them with some simple statement like, "What in the world are you doing?!" to get their attention. The woman glared at me, and got off of the man. The disinterested man said, "Move along, this is not your business," and flashed a gang sign. I didn't move along, I just said I don't tolerate violence and stood my ground. "You better move along," he repeated. I didn't. The three of them did.
St. Francis said, "Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
Our society not only tolerates violence, it glorifies it, worships it like the Golden Calf. The moral values and influences of video games that award points for killing and stealing are not even questioned. Instead of "tag," we shoot paint balls at one another. While the commandment says, "Thou shalt not kill," we build more efficient weapons and dance around them. We put our faith in them, rather than in God who is Love.
Apparently there is still a lot of impossible yet to be done! Let us begin with a willingness to do what is necessary: to issue a personal withdrawal from the cult of violence and a surrender to the heart of love, and to invite others to do the same.
St. Francis reminds us that "all the darkness of the world cannot extinguish the light of a small candle." Likewise, Shakespeare wrote, "How far that tiny candle throws its beam; so shines a good deed in a naughty world."
Jesus, of whom John wrote, "The Light has come into the darkness, and the darkness can never put it out," offers the reminder that what we do to one another, we do to Him.
Let's replace the Golden Calf with the Golden Rule and see what happens.
Blessings,
David
I noticed a commotion, and looking beyond my car saw a young woman atop a young man, straddling his chest and fiercely beating him about the head and shoulders while another young man watched with apparent disinterest.
I called out to them with some simple statement like, "What in the world are you doing?!" to get their attention. The woman glared at me, and got off of the man. The disinterested man said, "Move along, this is not your business," and flashed a gang sign. I didn't move along, I just said I don't tolerate violence and stood my ground. "You better move along," he repeated. I didn't. The three of them did.
St. Francis said, "Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
Our society not only tolerates violence, it glorifies it, worships it like the Golden Calf. The moral values and influences of video games that award points for killing and stealing are not even questioned. Instead of "tag," we shoot paint balls at one another. While the commandment says, "Thou shalt not kill," we build more efficient weapons and dance around them. We put our faith in them, rather than in God who is Love.
Apparently there is still a lot of impossible yet to be done! Let us begin with a willingness to do what is necessary: to issue a personal withdrawal from the cult of violence and a surrender to the heart of love, and to invite others to do the same.
St. Francis reminds us that "all the darkness of the world cannot extinguish the light of a small candle." Likewise, Shakespeare wrote, "How far that tiny candle throws its beam; so shines a good deed in a naughty world."
Jesus, of whom John wrote, "The Light has come into the darkness, and the darkness can never put it out," offers the reminder that what we do to one another, we do to Him.
Let's replace the Golden Calf with the Golden Rule and see what happens.
Blessings,
David
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