The DaVinci Code
What amazed me the most when I returned into the gloom for My Love's jacket, wasn't the senseless violence on the screen. It was the the passive acceptance of that violence by the remaining souls in the darkness of the theatre. Unlike us, who had decided to walk out scarcely more than 30 minutes into the film, most, though not all, of the remaining patrons chose to continue to subject themselves to the images of horror and destruction.
The day after, in reflection of our actions, I was appalled that it took us so long to reject this indecent intrusion into our consciousness. Moments after the credits rolled it was clear that the focus was on evil and yet for a half hour I refused to accept that indeed this film was primarily about that. Maybe I had hoped that this exploration into the history of human spirituality would not be so deeply hidden under layers and layers of senseless violence.
In stark contrast, the father and mother at the table next to us in the Thai Restaurant where we dined before the show, showered their children with love and affection. Each of the two girls took turns sitting on mommy and daddy's lap, there were lots of kisses, not only for the girls but between the parents as well. In the spur of the moment, My Love decided to continue a tradition that Oma started. After paying our bill she went over to the family and thanked them for manifesting their love and light in our world.
Human's are so capable of love and affection. Why are we also so capable of violence and destruction? Is it the same trait imbedded in humanity that creates both of these conditions? Is love and kindness a progression from our violent beginnings or is violence the result of intelligence in an organism outstripping the wisdom needed to manage its power.
It
is a question that haunts me. The only species on earth that is capable of true
evil is human. In fact all evil on earth can be traced to its human origin.
Plants are mostly passive and the most vicious animal acts only out of a need
for personal self preservation. Only human's are capable of inflicting pain and
suffering on its own kind, en masse, in the name of some abstract concept or
notion.
The bleachers of the soccer stadium were filled to the rafters. 30,000 fans were waving flags and singing along. André Reiu was standing on center field with his violin playing a walz by Dmitri Shostakovich. When My Love and I saw that on the video we both burst into tears, looked at each other, and thought the same thought simultaneously; "Human's have so much potential!"
My Love subscribes to a newsletter from Kate at http://www.mayyoubeblessedmovie.com/today.html
Today she received this heartfelt blessing:
"Kind thoughts are rarer than either kind words or deeds. They imply a
great deal of thinking about others. This in itself is rare, but they also imply
a great deal of thinking about others without the thoughts being criticisms.
This is rarer still."
~ E.W. Faber 19th century playwright
"Try this experiment. For the next 24 hours, do your best to suspend all judgment and criticism of others. Instead, wrap every person you meet in a warm and loving thought of kindness. Don't just limit this to physical contact, but apply it to everyone who comes to mind. And for those you consider enemies, make certain the thought is especially kind. There is a very good chance that by the time the experiment is finished, the way you habitually think about your fellow man will be forever changed."
Why not use our intelligence to reject violence and destruction and to build Love and Understanding? What possible use can we be to future generations if we expose ourselves to hatred and violence? What can we learn from that kind of exposure that we don't already know? As Prot reminded us; "Every being in the universe knows the difference between right and wrong."
Filling our consciousness with light instead of darkness is a gift we not only give to ourselves but to the world as a whole. When we watch a violent scene or read a violent story we imbed that violence in our consciousness where it festers and draws our own power into the vortex of evil. Is it not better to focus on the positive elements of human life and extend our prayer field in the direction of Love and Harmony?