Editor's Note: Peter's weekly posts are still actually approaching the frequency of my purportedly daily selections. Let's call it even.
Max complimented me for my regularity, and I promptly missed the next Wednesday. Apologies.
Last
week my wife and our older son were at a retreat at a Buddhist temple.
Their time at the temple brought back memories of one year ago when our
son spent two weeks at the temple as a novice monk. This involved
shaving his head, learning chants in Pali/Sanskrit, and wearing orange
robes. Just generally looking and acting strange and foreign.
That same week a man attacked a Sikh congregation a
few miles from our home, killing six and wounding four before killing
himself. Sikh men wear turbans and have long hair and beards. Generally looking and acting strange and foreign.
My response to this kind of hate is to seek justice
and stew in righteous anger. "Righteous anger" sounds a bit like
justified hate.
I am most astonished by those
people who have suffered far greater than I ever will and yet have found
a way to move forward in hope and forgiveness. I saw a quote from
Nelson Mandela the other day. Something about leaving hatred and
vengeance behind as he left prison or he would remain jailed no matter
the lack of bars.
This led me to stumble upon a great South African
artist performing an East African song in a language foreign to her, yet
she brings the song such beauty. Maybe the answer to hate is beautiful
songs.
No comments:
Post a Comment