What is love? What is hate? How do we feel those emotions or words? Are we doing it right, correct in our understanding of what they are or are we mistaken or misusing them? Is love that which we say when we looove ice cream or hate that which we say, oh, about broccoli? Not really, for we have debased the true meaning of these titles, of these emotions and the actions they engender.
A child in a novel anwered his younger brother's question as to what is love and what is hate. This, as they desperately tried to survive in an ugly world full of that hate, which wanted to kill them, yet survived through the sparks of love by the actions of people. He defined love as that which will allow you to forgive what your loved one has done, wish only the good for them while hate is that which will never allow you to believe in others, to trust in others, even if they are trying to help you. When the world is populated with more people who hate than people who love, then we will have wars and that leads to the worst in mankind.
Love is the feeling that will give a powerful payback of warmth, of feeling worthwhile. Hate will give one a temproarary feeling of power, of towering over the 'other' but really how longlasting is that? The followers of hate are always angry, always jarring in their behavior, for they have made themselves the others. Even if they have power for a while their own hatred brings about their downfall.
Hannah Arendt said that it is easier to act during times of tyranny than to think. Yes, actions can make one rise to the ranks of the elite, the world of the haters, where one cannot ever be sure of survival. Or one can think, what to do, how to act, how to bring back love and peace to the nation and the world.
When hate inevitably begins to fail, notice how there are frantic efforts to shift blame onto others. Notice the scurrying for survival, or the excuses somehow now flowing from those 'elite' haters. Hate is easy to do with temporary benefits, harsh benefits that harm others, while love consists of hard work, of temporary setbacks, but it is that emotion that makes the world a better place, that allows us to progress.
That being said, how do we know what to do? I believe in the bottom line theory of life. If what you do does not make you happy, especially not just for the moment, then what does your bottom line gain? Actually, nothing. But if you feel good about it, took the time to do the right thing, gave to others, then your bottom line will fall right into the profitable category.
No, I am not a Pollyanna. Yes, I have had feelings of hatred before and still maintain that feeling for some people whom I believe are beyond redemption. I am not proud of it, nor does it give me pleasure. It just has me shouting at TV screens and at the papers and media.The world, the humans within it, are not perfect. It is not Eden and even there, the ugly head of evil and hate, of jealousy, made an appearance.
Am I old enough to know better? Yes, I know that sometimes we people live on illusions and false hopes, plans that do not come to fruition, but I am also old enough to know that what has gone before is not workable, not in any permanent manner. Hate breaks things. It kills people, creates a world where one values a body count of the enemy . Actually, we, the people, are the enemy when we persist in acknowledging hateful behavior, allow filthy and heartbreaking words of hate, pass over the faces of hurt and incomprehension of children who do not understand why they are hated, even by people they do not know.
One does not have to love one another as if they are as full blooded family members but they need to be recognized as equal members of the family of man. If we do not do that, then we fail in our purpose on this earth and have the deaths of many on our heads even if we did not pull that trigger. That is what hate does. One cannot escape that definite conclusion and consequence.
There is a Latin phrase, thebeginning of which we all know - "Carpe diem" but we never state the rest. "...quam minimum creda postera". Seize the day, yes, but not for eating and drinking but for good deeds. Trust not the future, for it is sometimes not there. Do not waste the time you have on earth, Exploit every minute in a good way, with the powerful emotion and consequent behavior and rewards of love.
In this time of plague, of warfare all over the globe, of threatening words between countries rather than cooperation, of leaders who refuse responsibility even as they make terrible and harmful decisions, as words of hate are bandied about, what have we gained but for a realization that if we do not change, if we do not improve, we will continue on in this world until our hatred destroys it. Think what simple dialing down on hate can do and a turning up of the dial, slowly, on love, of recognition of our equal humanity, of no privileges either way or any way, just all people, what a better world we could have. Difficult? Oh, yes. Impossible - we can but try and every step forward is a gift to humanity.
In this time we need to respect others and realize that our missteps, our selfishness, will affect others as well. We all need to be safe, to be well, and it all flows around and through all. Think about what you do. Clamp down on those negative emotions. Look for the common points, the meshing of sets if you will. That is the only way we will continue to
BE SAFE BE WELL.
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