Last week my wife and I spent a couple days at a “tiny home subdivision” for formerly chronically homeless folks in Austin, Texas.
The peace I felt there was a stark contrast to the angst I feel about the upcoming election.
It put me in a reflective mood…
—
Cruelty is a knife with no handle.
It is impossible to harm others without harming yourself.
I don’t know why, but this appears to be one of those truths that is woven into the fabric of our humanity.
If you look at any of the recent celebrity criminals (Bernie Madoff, Jeffrey Epstein, etc.) it is obvious that they forfeited part of their “humanness” in victimizing others.
But it isn’t just the most notorious acts of harm that cut the person doing them.
Even petty unkindness whittles away at our humanity…
This election
The upcoming election (if you live in the United States) presents a painful opportunity for you to witness this in yourself.
Take a moment to reflect…
- Maybe you lashed out at someone online…
- Maybe you had some “less than kind” comments about the type of people who vote for the other side…
- Maybe you even lost a friend over their voting record…
If you have the courage to look at your own hand, you will find it clutching a knife by the blade.
That knife you wield against “the other” is cutting into your own humanity.
The blood on your hand is your own.
Don’t believe me? Try this exercise:
Think about the other side.
Now, try to wish them happiness…
Try to hope that they have loving marriages…
Try to imagine their joy in holding giggling grandbabies…
Try to want for them a circle of close friends who accept them for who they are…
If you find ANY resistance in yourself to wishing personal happiness for the other, you are holding a knife by the blade.
“But they have said cruel things!”
Yes, that is true.
“But they want to do damage to people and America!”
Yeah, probably.
“But they are evil!”
Perhaps.
I’m not talking about their humanity.
I’m talking about yours.
You can vote without hating. You can advocate for causes you care about without losing friends. You can get legislation passed without wishing anyone ill-will.
I’m not saying that you should stop struggling for a better world.
All I’m saying is “Put the knife down.”
Peace,
Ryan p.s. While I would love to claim that I thought of this first, a quick google search revealed that Meg Shaffer (The Wishing Game) wrote “Hate is a knife without a handle” before I did
