On Love and Hate

    

For the moment, hate has a rising hand in Orlando, FL. Another horrendous mass shooting has taken place, apparently our worst to date, in an LGBT gathering, causing terrible losses at every level. The gay community is in mourning, and the Afghan community now has reason to fear the hatred of retaliation because one of its own is the murderer. Yet even now love is emerging around the edges. Prayer is happening, full steam, for hope and healing; the general community is being turned away from blood banks that cannot handle the influx of donors, and volunteer organizations are being flooded with those desiring to help.

The mixed bag...

We are once again seeing the mixed bag of the effects due to a horrible event. We have the work of love, which I believe is a divine attribute, showing up, and we are witnessing what President Bill Clinton once called “the easy habits of hatred” settling in. Why are these habits so easy to form? Perhaps because we hate what we don’t know; we hate what is different; we hate what we fear; and sometimes we even hate ourselves. On the other hand, why does it seem so hard to love? The late psychologist, Dr. Leo Buscaglia, wrote that love is a “learned phenomenon,” and he was right. Even if we come into life bearing the Gift of Love, we still have to learn how to use this tremendous power. By now we should know that healing is found only in love. We do not heal in spite of love but because of it, therefore it simply does not make sense to hate. The great saviors of the world all preached love thy neighbor. The Dalai Lama, one of today’s most loved and respected spiritual leaders, has recently said yet again, “every one of us can become a force for good,” and good is rooted in love. Most of us do not want to command armies; we want to be loved.   

The misuse of good...

Where, then, lies the problem? We know that hatred is taught by societies and that some behaviors can beget violence. Why is it so hard to cultivate the habits of love? Do we believe that love is too soft, that we must show up rough and tough before the world? The philosopher, Ernest Homes, would say that hatred is “the misuse of good.” If he is right, then it is for us to use good wisely and, borrowing more of Bill Clinton’s words, set ourselves to “the hard task of reconciliation.” Can we at least stop…stop acting, stop reacting, and pause? Can we think…clearly about what we may be setting forth by our choices? Can we respond…instead of reacting, with a choice that will regenerate?

It is love that gives life. Hatred only brings death.