The Violence of Words

Violence in the world is natural. There is no escaping that fact. Humans however, take it to a new level. I think that the difference is the tendency of humans to group together and to identify real and potential enemies of the group as ‘bad or evil’. The wolf kills the sheep, but in reality the wolf loves sheep. She wants sheep to continue to populate the land. But in human malignant violence, we often identify the entire other group as enemy and seek their destruction. The group may be another nation, race, religion or even sexual orientation.

And I believe strongly that we are not fixed. We are continually involved with the creation of ourselves and the world. That gives us great power and makes our actions that much more important. Awareness brings power and responsibility. So for us to be better people and make a better world, we must treasure our awareness and use it compassionately to better the world.

Language shapes our consciousness and can limit our capabilities. Connection with place is a very basic way of identifying with the world of which we are an intimate part. Sometimes living in bustling concrete can make us forget that we are part of place. We become so enamored with the things that we humans do and make that we forget our origins. I love place and thoroughly enjoy exploring and identifying with place. That is part of the wonder of travel.

I also feel strongly that the encapsulation of God or spiritual force in words is demeaning. It brings what is beyond what we are into our own frame of reference. And we are really simple creatures trying to grasp at the wonder of life and the world around us. And bringing down those concepts into our feeble word systems, simultaneously creates the notion of the opposite (satanic/evil) in our thinking. This simplistic dichotomy has been our bane throughout history.

We hold our entire history within and through our present actions create the future of the universe.