We need to look at what is happening around us today in relation to violence and our attitudes toward it, without becoming dazed or inured to behavior that we feel is not right simply because this behavior is customary, and without running away from such observation because we do not want to see what we see.

The outbreak of violence that occurs in many places today takes place on many different levels: in mass killings as well as in the death of single individuals; in the increased incidence of domestic violence, as well as in the devestation that is still taking place to the Earth through human indifference. 

We must see these things in order to change them.  In addition, we must become aware of more subtle aspects of violence that become justified within our own consciousness: on the national level, the recently reported ‘kill list’ that has been allegedly approved by the present Administration which permits targeted drone strikes to others abroad, including American citizens who participate in terrorist organizations.  These strikes are legitimized based on the potential danger of the individuals, without due process of law.  On the emotional level, the ‘manhunt’ that recently took place in southern California which, however legitimate in terms of containing a dangerous person, brought with it the excitement and blood-thirstiness that often accompanies the desire for revenge. 

All violence is violence against ‘us.’  There is no one whose death does not diminish ‘me.’  All violence is committed toward other souls who are created by God, and the justification for such action cannot be based on anything else but the temporary suspension of the view of life as sacred. 

We do not think that ‘we’ would be capable of the violence that others commit.  We do not think that anything could bring us to that.  But the foundation for permitting such action can be sorely tested by extreme circumstance.  It can be sorely tested by circumstance in which rage appears to be justified.  Then, the difference between acting upon this rage or not acting upon it will depend solely upon whether one can cling to light and God in the presence of such emotion and in the presence of such justification.  For God does not condone violence against life that is in all cases sacred.

What we may learn from these observations is about our own attitudes toward the sacredness of life, and our own desire to protect this at all costs.  In specific, in all circumstances when emotions move us in the direction of justifying anger or rage, it is necessary to hold fast to the light within, to cling to the light within.  This clinging will evoke from the Universe all light, love, and support, for it is simultaneously a clinging to the very foundations of sacred life.

Related Writings:

Violence in America

Is America Ready for Gentleness?

In This Time

Violence in Virginia and the Time We Are In

Article Section -  Purification