Transformation

Dr. Alice S. Kandell Collection of Sikkim Photographs  public domain library of congress photos

 In other times and other cultures we might think of negative energy in different terms:  demonic or unclean are words that come to mind.  Evil.  I still believe in evil...though not necessarily a personified evil.  When a force seeks to x out the humanity, the value, the beauty of a human being, I think of that as evil.  And yet, even that kind of thing can be transformed, changed, shifted, turned on its head.  Madeline L'Engle writes about some of that in her children's story:  A Wrinkle in Time.  Something that wasn't recommended for adults because it was too scary!  Imagine that.  But it wound up on the bookshelves for children. 

Thinking about my blog entry from yesterday, I wonder if perhaps there is some way for that terrible shooting to be transformed, that instead of dividing the community, it could bring us together, help us to figure out ways of healing what has happened.  That shooting is more than the act itself.  It does represent some terribly, ugly thing, a shadow that has taken root here.  When someone is different.  When someone is not understood or misunderstood, there is great offense taken, and somehow it grows.  It erupted in violence between these two young men.  But I wonder if we ever consider the hidden agendas that animosity creates.  It can become insidious when anger is allowed to take root in our hearts.  It grows and it grows.

In the small communities of upstate New York, most often the work is done by way of gossip.  People take some piece of information they have about someone else's life and put it on the round of gossip.  That is all that is necessary.  From person to person the story and stories grow into something that becomes unrecognizable.  A person's life may lay in ruins because of the gossip.  They may lose their job.  They may be shunned.  They may have friends shut them out of their lives.  This seems every bit as violent and angry as a shooting.  There is malicious intent lying beneath it.  And the thing that makes it most evil of all, is the unfairness.  There is no way for someone to defend himself or herself from things that they don't even know are being said.

So how about if we try to transform such things when they reach us.  How about when something negative is said, suggesting that the person relaying the information go with you to the person being talked about.  Suggest that the truth be learned.  Suggest that things be set right.  Suggest that you learn the true intentions behind that person's behavior.  And remind them of all the good things you know about so and so.   

It is not always as simple as that.  But I wonder if these two boys had sat down face to face and had to work through the issues, found common ground, learned to see each other as human, perhaps a shooting would never have taken place.  What does it take to see each other as human?