This past week a young boy was brutally murdered in a close knit community in New York. People across the world read the news with shock and disbelief.
Sadly enough the tragedy will soon be a faded memory as another tragic story takes its place.
It is all so overwhelming.
How can each of us make a difference in a world that is filled with so much hate and violence.
I am not a Rabbi or a Minister but if I was on a pulpit preaching to a congregation this is what I would say:
We are living in a very angry world. It starts close to home with things like, “My family infuriates me”, “My neighbor enrages me.”..Then it spills over to our jobs, our communities, our country and the world.
Anger is like a cancer….It can quickly spread and have devastating results.
How do we defuse this anger and approach life as a half filled glass?
We can start by being kinder to each other on a daily basis. We can learn to love and respect each other regardless of our differences.
We have to let go of this idea that we deserve anything. We have to deflate our own egos and think how our actions and behavior can make the world a better place for others not just ourselves.
We have to find the good in people.
We must reach out to those in need and offer help, even if it means stepping out of our comfort zone.
We need to to love each other unconditionally.
We need to pray for world peace and most importantly, practice what we pray for.
world peace
Agreed wholeheartedly. There is so much in the human family that needs to be healed.
If I may be permitted, I have one more suggestion to the imaginary congregation: Seek out other sources of information about the world, besides just network and cable news. There are SO many wonderful people, doing acts of kindness every day. There are large numbers of people who have dedicated their lives to helping others. But sadly, these stories of hope are rarely given the spotlight. They are not sensational enough to win the “ratings” in our materialistic culture.
But as painful as the violence and anger are to us… I do not believe for ONE SECOND that the majority of humanity is the image created for us in newspapers and tv. By focusing only on political controversy, crime, and violence, these media outlets are creating an inaccurate picture, compared to who we really are.
Imagine the incredible change that could occur, if even 30% of tv news time were devoted to the CONSTRUCTIVE, innovative, generous actions of humans around the planet. People would see these stories and clamor to be part of the good works. Humanitarians would be idolized as commonly as sports heroes or movie stars. All the kids would still dream of fame– but they’d earn it by striving to make the world better.
Madelyn…You suggestions make SO much sense and I appreciate you taking the time to share them on my site.
Years ago, I created a weekly newspaper column profiling nice people in the sales and service industry. It bothered me that it was always the negative stories that made the news. I wanted to have a way to say thank-you to the folks who made each day nicer whether it be a sales clerk, cashier, bank teller etc…I LOVED interviewing these people and sharing their stories with my readers.