Generosity and Righteousness

The latter is wasted without the grace lent to others by the former.

At times, I have felt a grace so powerful, calming and wise, so clearly apart from me, yet willing to sit with me through hardship. I feel immense gratitude and also that I owe I debt I can never hope to repay. As some small tribute, I can at the very least try to extend a portion of this grace, this generosity of spirit, to others.

Our actions radiate outward and effect other people in ways we cannot comprehend, but we are so much more connected and our paths so much more complex than mere waves. My life has many times been altered by just a few moments shared with those I hold dear. Our actions are more like ripples in a pond of nitroglycerin. Sometimes little happens no matter how much you push, sometimes the smallest act of kindness or decency can erupt and echo for generations.

It’s About Time | Terry Callier (Don’t forget to support new and favorite Artists through Bandcamp Friday)

I believe that no sentient life is my enemy, and that we betray our righteous ambition, our desire to better the world, when we feed the mutating virus of hate. Generosity is most important, and most difficult, to extend to those we see as perpetuating the great injustices of the world. It is a dangerous feedback loop to judge quickly and engender further grief and animosity.

I continue to fail at this. I have rewritten, erased, and thought better of so many messages. We need people who disagree to work together, for we are wiser and more balanced when we are less sure of our righteousness. Polarization feeds on itself, especially with media meant to highlight the worst fragments of the opposition. This exposure pushes us farther away and makes us more likely to be energized to do the same again in the future.

If a complex form of virulent hatred was the true culprit who cleaver our loved ones from the world, seeking revenge on people instead of the ideas that animated them only serves to empowers the true killer, and almost assures that it will strike again.