Without causing an online debate about theologies, I simply wish to explain why I chose to believe in the goodness of others and happy endings.
The bombings at the Boston Marathon was a horrid reminder that evil deeds can often appear successful especially after hours of mending wounds, healing hearts, and searching for the cowardly culprit(s) behind such a vicious crime. All day my news feed regurgitated headlines emphasizing the blood and loss of limbs and ominous feeling of the "who-done-it."
I fought the urge to leave work, pick up my boys from daycare, go home, and lock us all away never to go out into such a terrible world again! It took all of my effort to fight back the numerous thoughts of all the terrible things that happen in this word and all the terrible ways they could happen to those I love. It quickly lead to questioning why I bother to bring two innocent children into a world that could so callously take them out. I started thinking how every morning when I kiss my children good-bye it could be for the last time.
The option of cynicism and anger and hatred becomes so tempting. Why be kind to a stranger especially if he is the sicko with potential to cause so much damage? Why use kind words to people who probably don't appreciate them? Why not become an island so no one affects me and I affect no one? Or better yet, why not just always put myself first? Why find what makes me genuinely happy when Twitter and Facebook show us how much more entertaining cutting commentary that strips people down to their faults and then pokes fun at them seems to be, and how we are encouraged to use those methods to lift ourselves up? (I know I've been guilty of it. It is easy to do.) Why not focus on the material so I can attain what society deems success? Why not dwell on what I don't have but deserve?
Then I stopped.
I started to notice tweets and posts that included:
It all reminded me that I exhaust myself being "light" in the darkness. My unceasing optimism and idealism is what makes me such a great educator (and a loveable annoyance to some of my friends I'm sure). But you know what? That exhaustion is worth it if it means I can band together with other beams and outshine whatever malefactors threaten humanity.
Good will always win. Perhaps it may not be immediately, and in the instant gratification society "now" is when people want results, but good will triumph ultimately. I firmly believe that. Just as I firmly believe my simple "thank you" and "have a good day" can alter a person's perspective if even for a moment. I believe in the goodness in children (even my teenage students), and if it is cultivated correctly doesn't have to become evil. I believe that my happiness lies in love: the love of my family, the love of my friends, the fundamental love of life. When I project my light, my love can become contagious, and if enough of us project such a love then hate/ignorance/frustration/anger will have no one to cling to.
I realize many people will scoff or roll their eyes or label me delusional. How can I ignore the harsh realities of life? I can't. But I can do as Marcus Aurelius advises:
"Say to yourself first thing in the morning: today I shall meet people who are meddling, ungrateful, aggressive, treacherous, malicious, unsocial. All this has afflicted them through their ignorance of true good and evil. But I have seen the nature of good and what is right, and the nature of evil and what is wrong; and I have reflected that the nature of the offender himself is akin to my own...the same fragment of divinity. Therefore, I cannot be harmed by any of them, as none will infect me with their wrong."
Yes there is badness in the world and the feeling of helplessness to stop it can be overwhelming, but how I choose to continue to live my life facing evil head on is what matters. I am not alone in this as evident by the continuous support that avails itself after a tragedy. There are a bunch of us out there and it is vital that we always remember that.
As wise Master Yoda states: "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering" and, "Luminous beings are we. Not this crude matter."
No comments:
Post a Comment