Sad, angry, loving thoughts

I love being whimsical. When it seems appropriate.
I hate the violence that happened in the last few days here in the US. 

First 2 young black men were killed by police.
Alton Sterling, see the video here.
Philando Castile's girlfriend made a video just after he was shot.

Then I woke up Friday morning to find the violence in Dallas, TX had killed police officers during a demonstration. (Report on my TV today HERE)

There is no side which is totally right, and no side which is totally wrong.

The violence is the problem.  You can't solve anything with violence.  In spite of how we've trained our children through TV and games with guns...no violence brings peace, ever.

Guns are the problem.  They kill so easily.  They are already in the hands of many people who will kill someone else.  I wish this weren't true. But our laws have been handicapped by the second amendment, which never considered the amount of power our current guns would have. The law will eventually catch up with reality, but sadly, many more people will bleed before it happens.

What is the answer?

Love.  That may sound so trite. But after many hours of thoughtful consideration, and listening to people who have also spent much of their lives doing the same, I truly believe this.

Compassion is needed not only for victims, and their families, but for those who actually resorted to violence in their delusional thinking to attempt to take violent action for solutions. 

Justice should still continue to be carried out, I certainly think, even more diligently than ever.

Forgiveness may be a goal of love.  I believe when this is the goal, to come to a place of love towards those who use violence or any action of victimization, there is eventually going to be a path to peace. It isn't a "just decide to forgive the man who killed someone" kind of thing. It's just something to start considering first, then maybe to think about how that would feel.

So I pray for love to help me understand the bigoted police officers who act without due process.

I wish that bigotry could just be educated away, with lots of training. But it is fed by fear, and many public persons yell about fears and fuel the fire of bigotry.  I am trying to find love in my heart so that they won't feel as afraid, so they will yell about the wonderful lives of such diversity that we have welcomed into our country, that our differences make us stronger.

I feel deep compassion towards the "black lives matter" activists. These people have walked around in black skin since birth, and I have no idea what that really feels like.  I only know the feelings of having walked around in a white female body since birth, and what that triggers in my feelings when walking a street at night, or when confronted by a crowd of bullies or males who are teasing each other to be aggressive towards my kind.

Please listen to this idea.

 Love one another. Start your action going towards love, not hate.  More hate isn't going to really help.  If you feel powerless, be angry instead. And take action towards love.

Some people who know more than I do:

The Dali Lama:

I consider we are all the same as human beings, mentally, emotionally and physically.  In order to ensure a more peaceful world and a healthier environment we sometimes point a finger at others saying they should do this or that.  But change must start with us as individuals.  If one individual becomes more compassionate it will influence others and so we will change the world.

Nelson Mandela:

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.  People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

Kurt Vonegut

Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let bitterness steal your sweetness.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

President Jimmy Carter:

What is needed now, more than ever, is leadership that steers us away from fear and fosters greater confidence in the inherent goodness and ingenuity of humanity.