Yes, I agree, hanky--costello has given us an excellent reminder. An a most timely post for this morning, even for non-observant me
!
I have to admit that I've been in my lovely cave the past few days and hadn't heard the news about this latest tragedy. As you mention, costello, it didn't result from racism alone but had its own timeline along a domino effect triggering the destructive emotions you cited (anger, fear, envy) and the other, which I see as the obverse of fear--hatred.
I think it is rare that any of us are able to recognize the depth of pain in others. This is especially a problem for children growing up in a household of tragedy. These negative emotions are sometimes being nourished in them, yet they have no concept of the soil in which it grew. But we can try, at least to be aware that there
is pain--and to reach out to them, to let them know that we are aware of their suffering and want to be part of the solution, as the hankster put it, and not part of the problem.
Society is basically against individual involvement, in helping the down-trodden. For me, the heart of your post is this:
Quote:
The acts committed by Jake England and his friend last Friday were their own. But to the extent that our culture encourages fear, anger, and aggression, we all had a hand in it. Culture is made of the beliefs and thoughts of millions of individuals. We can change our fear-based, angry culture one person at a time by working on making ourselves calmer, more peaceful, more compassionate.
I, for one, have committed myself to redoubling my efforts to learn to cope more and more effectively with my own destructive emotions (anger, fear, envy), so that I don't spread my pain on to other victims by acting out my aggression. Even an unkind word or snotty comment inflicts pain needlessly - and it doesn't even bring us any relief.
|
I commit myself to standing with you in this, Costello, and in doing this publically ... but it scares me. You know? I'll let you know how long I last.
Roadie
