I cried silent tears the day Saddam Hussein dangled from a noose; I cried silent tears the day Osama Bin Laden was gunned down in front of his wife and family—and I cry silent tears every time Donald Trump is lambasted in the latest demonization of this Republican front-runner. Why? Chill, put your contacts back in and I’ll tell you why.

Not because I support or supported any of their ideologies, actions, or moral rationalizations on anything; not because I don’t believe the world would be better off without their extremist politics; not because I secretly salivate at their brazen acts of defiance; and certainly not for their seditious and inflammatory words of violence and vulgarity.

I cry silent tears for the assassination of anyone’s character and for the defaming, dehumanizing, or execution of any human being for the following two reasons: First, no-one has the moral authority to physically, emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually crush another human being no matter who they are are what they’ve done. Period.

However distasteful and repulsive it may seem to many, every living, breathing entity on earth came from a nurturing mother’s womb into a world of possibilities and pitfalls. Just like you and me. The path and trajectory of their moral and spiritual journey is theirs to own and take responsibility for to the end. Not yours or mine. As parents, companions, mentors, or probation officers, we can guide and help those who have fallen into aberrant “ways,” but we can’t complete their journey for them. That is theirs alone to do.

That said, as I’ve commented on my Spirituality Blog, we not only carry and share each other’s divinity and violence in our common human consciousness, we are all equally responsible for the health, healing, and rehabilitation of the fragmented human community. No-one gets a free lunch on this one, amigos!

And, secondly, when we bloodily bludgeon or “neutralize” (a nice military euphemism for killing the “enemy”) another person because of the “perceived” threat they pose to us, or by virtue of our moral justification to do so, we are in effect creating a consciousness blueprint of the very circumstances we dread and that vitriolically repulse us. In other words: Whatever our emotional or thought patterns create on a daily basis, is precisely what will rebound into our cozy little orbit sooner or later—often with added interest.

As Deepak Chopra put it in his 2014, “A Global Meditation for Peace”:

The World is a reflection of who we are, and if we don’t like the reflection, it doesn’t really help to break the mirror.

A Fragile Species

Why is it that we slam others so easily when we’re pissed, scandalized, or outraged? What are we possibly projecting from deep within the recesses of our own consciousness?

At a fundamental level, we are a fear-ridden, suspicion-driven species, that has lost its sense of divinity. We have allowed our fears, rapacious grabbing, and unexplored human insecurities to get the better of us. We don’t know who we truly are or where we truly belong. We’re restless, impulsive, competitive, and afraid; so afraid of the stranger, the unexplored, the unknown. We’re xenophobic, homophobic, and claustrophobic, to name a few of a million phobias.

But most of all we’re afraid of ourselves. Afraid of our demons and afraid of what we’re capable of. Damn it, we’re afraid to live out our full potential in a swirling wellspring of pure possibilities. Isn’t it time we (seriously) got over ourselves?

A Deeper Wisdom

As my good friend and blogger Sean O’Laoire, PhD (Spiritual Director of Companions on the Journey) puts it:

When love is turned inwards it becomes self-esteem; when love is turned outwards, it becomes compassion; when fear is turned inwards, it becomes depression; and when fear is turned outwards it becomes anger… Wisdom is the heart’s commitment to turning all experiences into love, and ignorance is the ego’s addiction to turning all experiences into fear.

Speaking of wisdom, I’d like to close out this reflection with the beauty and lyrics of Christina Perri’s. “I’m only Human”:

~

“I bleed when I fall down …Your words in my head, knives in my heart. You build me up then I fall apart ’cause I’m only human…”

~

Author: Gerard A. Murphy

Editor: Travis May

Image: Flickr/Gage Skidmore