People confuse me most of the time, but I can't help but smile as I watch them and as I think about them.
Now, if you watch the news, I'm sure you feel some kind of hatred and sadness boiling up inside of you because people really can be despicable. People can be despicable and people are in charge of the world. It's frightening. Careful, fear is the problem.
Over Spring Break, I went on a trip to Germany and Poland with my Human Dignity class. We went to experience the Holocaust sites. I walked through Auschwitz. The place still smells like ash. People are capable of insidious deeds. I could not make sense of it then, and I cannot make sense of it now.
Yet, I do not hate people. In fact, I came back from that trip with an even deeper appreciation of humanity.
It seems to me that if we don't pause and appreciate the impossible nature of the human spirit, then we are bound to repeat the very insidious deeds that we hate. We're doing it now, in fact.
We're so afraid of unfamiliar people and unfamiliar words and motions and actions because we know how awful we can be, and then we let that stop us from appreciating people.
People are capable of the greatest evil in the world, but they are also capable of the greatest good. We cannot forget that.
If you need a reminder, stroll through an art gallery or pick up a classic novel or look up at an airplane. Humans are not creatures that can fly by nature (in case you were unaware), yet we solved that problem! Listen to a professional violinist. Watch a football game or go the ballet. Think of the fact that we still have ancient documents or that every generation there are people that probe and press on truth for the sake of truth.
Oh, how I respect those people that are pressed up against death, and still they do not sway! It makes no sense for people to hold firm to their beliefs when they are in harm's way. Yet, they do that every single day.
People forgive murderers and deaths and accidents. They keep going even after their country has been terrorized.
The impossible nature of the human spirit is exhibited in the worst and the best that humankind has to offer. It is articulated by our capacity for hatred and by our capacity for love.
We do a disservice to ourselves, of course, if we forget to be afraid of what we are capable. This makes us prone to repeating ourselves.
However, we also do a disservice to ourselves if we forget all the absolutely astounding things that people have done and can do. If we forget to appreciate people, then we allow fear to rule our actions, and, again, we repeat ourselves.
We need sad smiles, furrowed brows, and hopeful eyes as we gaze out at the sea of beings.
It's a sober appreciation that recognizes both the sorrow and the joy of humankind, but we have to appreciate how impossible we are.
