Not a night has passed in a month or more without hearing of a new violent attack or tragedy. I think we can all agree that the world is in a sad state of affairs. What could have caused these terrible events? Separation and distinction. We have spent so much time focusing on what makes you different than I that we have ended up putting each other in these impenetrable little boxes. Thinking we are so radically different from one another has led to one group slighting another. This mind set of separation fosters prejudice and fear. Which inevitably and unfortunately leads to hate. Hate so potent, so volatile that one thinks themselves justified in hurting another. Just because they think themselves different.
Whoever you are or whatever you believe in, I know we can all agree that something needs to change! How do we fight against this hate that is rooted in so deep all over the world? I’ll answer you with a few questions of my own. What is the only force strong enough to eradicate hate? The only thing that can break open those little boxes? Love. Well, how can we love one another when we have been separating ourselves for so long? We can start by being kind to one another. That sounds too easy now, doesn’t it? Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most effective.
It may be foreign to you at first, so start small. Let’s bring back random acts of kindness. Hold the door open if someone is behind you. Pull your head out of the phone and try waving or saying hello to those you pass on the street. If you happen to see someone sitting or standing alone, go over to them. Say hello or try to strike up a conversation. The only way to break out of the boxes we have been put in is to interact with others outside of your normal. Hate is bred out of fear and prejudice. It is so easy to be afraid of someone or something that you have never interacted with before. Are you afraid of the sweet old lady who lives down the road? No! Why? Because she talks to you, she interacts with you. You see that there is nothing to fear from this harmless old lady. By making a conscious effort to be kind to one another and to interact with one another we become like that sweet old lady down the road. We show each other through our actions that there is nothing to fear.
Hate is running rampant, leading to more and more vicious attacks. We need to stop it and stop it now! We have to start unraveling this hate filled, scared mentality. The only way to defeat hate is with love. The problem is that it’s hard to love someone you are afraid of. I’m asking you to chase fear away with kindness. To show each other that we have nothing to fear from one another. Battling fear in this way will also fight to disarm prejudice. Hate is like a fire and just like a fire when you starve it of oxygen it goes out. When we starve the fire that is hate of its oxygen of fear and prejudice we will smother it until it goes out. Be kind to one another so we will no longer fear one another.
