Have No Fear

The day after Valentine's Day, and I am stunned out of my feelings of love and joyfulness by reading this article in The New York Times. Apparently, in America, attacks on the homeless are rising and youth are to blame. I read the article and could not prevent the tears from welling up in my eyes. How can any human being do such a obscene thing to another human being? A helpless, homeless human being? I just don't get it.

There are accounts of people as young as 10 attacking the homeless. Where does that hatred come from? Who taught that child that it was okay to hurt another person? Parents who encourage hate and fear of anyone who is different. All behaviour is motivated by one of two things, either fear or love. And what is fear but lack of knowledge, lack of security, lack of inner strength?

There are five natural emotions: grief, anger, envy, fear, and love. When these are repressed, as they almost always are, they inevitably manifest themselves at some point in our lives as inappropriate emotions. Grief manifests as chronic depression, anger as rage, envy as jealousy, fear becomes panic, and love that is repressed becomes possessiveness. Depression, rage, jealousy, panic and possessiveness have all caused human beings to kill other human beings.

If we teach our children that it is okay and healthy to express grief, anger, envy, fear, and love, we will raise human beings who can work through and move through these emotions quickly and without hurting others. I beg all parents to allow and support our children when they express grief. Don't tell them not to cry when they're sad, or not to get angry when when they are being abused. These are the emotions that give us inner strength and real power.

Attacking the homeless, being cruel to other children, terrorizing those who work under us- all are forms of bullying. In my mind, the biggest illness of our modern world, and something that must be stopped. And can be stopped. Love is the answer.