Volunteer Missionary Movement (VMM-USA) | home
Coping with a tragedy. How do you grieve over Virginia Tech?
It's been a hard week. Over and over again I saw hatred and exclusion
in words and in hearts this week:
- a hate email that warned "Islamic-Fascists want to do it again"
- a letters to the editor on Afghanistan - it could have been on Iraq
or any other war - "In America, life is not so cheap... We love
freedom and we cherish democracy... peace will only come when Muslim
mothers love their children more than they hate us." - implying of
course that "there" life is cheap, "they" hate freedom and despise
democracy and "those" mothers don't care when their children die and
that "they" all hate us.
- again on the need for war - "Peace is a state that must be
protected sometimes with force."
- yesterday, from the bus, I saw three persons attack an old man in a
bus shelter. The bus driver phoned the police and waited over 10
minutes reporting in what direction the attackers calmly ambled off
and the old man slowly took off in the opposite direction. The main
police station is a block away. No one showed up on a slow Sunday
afternoon. Would they have acted more quickly if it had happened in
front of the Westin Hotel instead of in a bus shelter in the inner city?
- a media personality commented on Virginia Tech massacre: "There are
evil people who do evil things. There's nothing more to it than that."
While it may be true that there are evil people who do evil things,
it's not true there is nothing more to it than that. All of the above
quotes come from persons who claim to be "Christian" "Western" "good"
We need to understand ourselves - all of humankind - as beings in the
image of God, whether it is as Christians or Buddhists or through
some other faith. What is critical is that we must understand
ourselves - and all people - as in the image of God. We need to see
God's image in each other.
We need to deepen our awareness of our common humanity rather than
emphasizing that which separates us. Love makes the circle larger;
fear entrenches division. Do not be afraid.
Cecily
P.S. There are beautiful books written by women and men and children
from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan. Read one and pass it along.
