Learning From Violence

"Sadness flies on the wings of the morning and out of the heart of darkness comes light" Jean Giraudoux

Searching for the right words to shed light after the tragedy in Tucson, I remembered a book I wrote after the Columbine Shootings, titled Another Parent For Love a book on answers for ending school violence. This week I’ve selected parts of the book to share with you, in hopes that it may shed some light.
In the spring of 1999, there was an overwhelming feeling of sadness that swept across the land. Through this despair a question surfaced: How can we stop violence and end war? Processing this answer first arose from my love, awaking my heart. Then from my Faith, igniting my soul. Suddenly I was at peace, and peace awoke my mind to an answer. Love for all humanity, the good, the bad and the ugly. A return to kindness. How will kindness work in stopping violence and war? Kindness has always been the path to healing and love, we just forgot.
Love comes from your heart. Faith comes from your soul. When love and faith unite for humanity, a return to kindness naturally surfaces. Creating a healing force, an invisible strength.
To create peace and end violence we must extend our family-love to include all children. We are all related and part of the whole. All children need us to give a little guidance, teach a little love -compassion, and mentor on being kind. This is where the popular phrase “It takes a village to raise a child” stems from. It takes you and I together to end violence, and return to love. Everyone, young, old, handicap, and abused, desires love.
Judgment can cast a wall on the heart. Kindness like a flame burning on a candle gets blown out. Judgment is simply a habit longing to be broken, as every time we judge another we are looking in a mirror. There is something in the person being judged that we see or are afraid of in us. Here is a list of top things that many people see or are afraid of: 1. Being loved, 2. Being worthy, 3. Good enough, 4. Being liked or accepted, 5. Feeling safe and having enough.
The other mistake in judgment is: History shows us that what seemed to be real at the time proved to have more to the story as time goes by. Once outside the box, and looking through different eyes, we discover many major influences, which lead to violence and war.
With the New Year and our inner calling for healing the planet and humanity lets begin looking outside the box. In 1940 Karen Scalf Linamen wrote a book Parent Warrior. Karen wrote about a poll were educators were asked to list seven of the most prevalent problems they encountered. They were: 1. Talking in class, 2.Chewing gum, 3.Making noise, 4.Running in halls, 5. Cutting in line, 6. Dress code violations, 7. Littering.
When the same poll was taken in 1990 with educators the results were: 1.Drug abuse, 2. Alcohol abuse, 3.Pregnancy, 4. Suicide, 5. Rape, 6. Robbery, 7. Assault.
The silent message we as a society can feel is watch out for danger. Fear breeds fear. Fear can make a school zone a war zone, same with a town. How can we change fear to love? How do you squeeze lemons into lemonade?
Attitude is seven times greater than knowledge and skill according to the Stanford Research Institute, which claimed success, is 88% attitude and 12% knowledge and skill.
H.D.Thoreau and F.D. Roosevelt both remind us, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself” When the assistant principle approached the boy with the gun in his hand, he came gently with compassion….fear dissipated, the gun fell to the ground. If the principle had approached the boy with fear and control, he probably would have been shot.

'Where do we go from a world of insanity? Somewhere on the other side of despair?"-T.S. Eliotr
Violence is a wake-up call, a shout for love. Yet many of us assume it is a shout for hate. Now that we are awake, let us not be afraid....for there is an answer. Where there is a will there is a way. Joanna Rogers Macy wrote in her book, Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age, “Every system – be it a cell, a tree, a mind, - is like a transformer, changing the very stuff that flows through it.” We can transform the fear of violence into the power of love.

“We are what we think. All that we are arises out of our thoughts. With our thoughts we create the world.” –The Buddha

Fear is a natural emotion, an instinct guiding us to pay attention. Once we are aware, we can turn fear into a reminder that we are not victims of the world, powerless, we are powerful beyond measure. It all starts with perception. When we see with eyes of supporting nonviolence and desiring peace, we find answers and attract peace.

Affirmations are a welcoming of new energy being released into the universe. They are prayer in action. Affirmations have proved to be a great tool for assisting great change.
Here are 6 affirmations I leave you with.
1. Today I will look for the good. I will see the beauty in life. As I remember my goodness, I see the good in others. We are all angels in apprenticeship, doing the best that we can.
2. Today I will turn fear into love. We all deserve love and kindness. We are creative, spiritual beings, worthy and precious to the world. Everyday in everyway more joy is coming into our world.
3. I open my heart to gratefulness. I look at all I have to be grateful for.
4. I trust life and accept life, knowing there is more to life tha
I can see. I believe in my family, my community, my dreams, my hopes, my work, and myself and I know this belief will be richly rewarded and increase love.
5. Forgiveness is flowing through me, releasing any blocks of fear or tension in my body and my life. The more I forgive others, and myself, the better I feel.
6. I am never alone. I am protected and supplied.

“Are people affecting the world of reality that they see?” ….you betcha! From Fred Alan Wolf, PhD. The Little Book of Bleeps.

Gregg Braden, world-renowned author, inspired speaker and trainer says it takes only 8,000 people to change our world - to enhance the economy, create peace. May we all join in creating the world we want to see. Vision is the art of seeing invisible things turn into visible things.