“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” (Psalm 42:5)

The holidays have come and gone. A new year is upon us. I find myself burdened with an ever present anxiety about the world. Chaos and loss dominate the news. Rage and greed merge in political discourse which is increasingly laced with threats of retribution. The 24 hour-a-day news cycle shout these grim messages, headline after headline, podcast after podcast. I’m not alone in feeling weary and anxious. 

In our world today, perhaps nothing is more damaging than the pattern of separating groups into “us vs. them”. This divisiveness fractures our sense of social community. We become a society of enemies, composed of the “good guys” and the “bad guys.” These patterns breed hatred, based on whatever division we choose, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, geography, political parties, money, education, geography, or how we look, to name just a few.

And yet, hatred of one individual against another, or one group against another group, is as old as humanity. Humans are hard-wired with a potential for hate that, for some, becomes addictive. We may feel a sense of excitement when we hate others and a feeling of superiority supported by (perhaps unconscious) inner voices that proclaim, “I am better than you are.” If we receive hate from others, we feel dismissed, put down, shoved aside. We may respond in anger, fueling more hate to the other. Or, we may turn the hatred toward ourselves, believing an inner voice that says, “I am never enough.”

This cycle of hate offers only pain and causes harm. Hate attacks the fabric of the human soul. We are social creatures and, like all animals, need to be held, comforted, and nourished. Humans need teaching, guidance, and friendship that come through relationships and communities with others. Theologian Richard Rohr says:

“For the planet and for all living beings to move forward, we can rely on nothing less than an inherent original goodness and a universally shared dignity. Only then can we build, because the foundation is strong and is itself good. Surely this is what Jesus meant what he told us to ‘dig and dig deep, and build your house on rock.’ (Luke 6:48)” (Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ, Convergent Books, copyright 2019, page 67)

Lately, I started watching nature documentaries of lions in the wide-open grasslands of Africa. There is great caring in the wild, as mothers nurse their cubs, hunt for food, and keep the little ones safe. But caring is pragmatic, secondary to survival. If a small cub cannot keep up with the pride, the lionesses leave the cub behind. And the tribe survives only by killing other animals.

Human evolution has changed the structure of our brains. Unlike lions, we have the freedom to choose how we think. Our freedom of consciousness carries an enormous responsibility. It can be both terrifying and exhilarating to recognize the power of our minds to affect our lives and the lives of others. Learning to use our freedom of thought wisely means that we train our minds toward compassion.

The impulse to hate lives in our “reptilian” brain, which houses our instinct to survive. When we hate another, it’s as though we fear for our own survival. Deep suffering often lies behind our impulses to hate. Transforming these can be a slow process that requires time, effort, and perseverance. The point of spiritual practice is to help us do this transformation, prioritize our instincts to care above our drive for survival. We find these teachings in religions around the world, including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, among others.

One way to move toward compassion is to engage in activities that you enjoy, that generate a sense of vitality, and/or bring a feeling of peace. This year I was especially grateful for the Christmas decorations. They helped me slow down and reminded me of the power of Light to point to a universal reality that holds us all in a loving embrace.

The ancient words of Psalm 139 echo, for me, this Light-filled reality:

1 O Lord, You search me out and You know me.

2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; 

you discern my thoughts from afar.

3 You know my path and my lying down,

and are acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue,

     O Lord, You know it completely.

5 You hem me in, behind and before,

     and lay Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

     it is so high that I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from Your spirit?

     Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;

    if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.

9 If I take flight on the wings of the morning

     and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 even there Your hand shall lead me,

     Your right hand shall hold me fast.

11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,

     and the light around me turn to night’,

12 even darkness is not dark to You;

     the night is as bright as the day,

     for darkness is as light to You.

13 For You formed my inward parts;

     you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

     Wonderful are your works;

 And that my soul knows very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

     when I was being made in secret,

     intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.

     In Your book were written all the days 

     that were formed for me,

     when none of them as yet existed.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God,

     How vast is the sum of them!

18 If I were to count them, they would surely

     outnumber the grains of sand;

     when I awake, I am still with You.  (Psalm 139 : 1-18)

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

~ What triggers episodes of hate for you? (toward yourself or others; or experiencing others’ hate toward you)

~ How have you learned to transform the energy of hate, in yourself and/or with others?

~ What is a life giving activity that you can do this week?  month?  year? 

Here are some ideas:

• take a walk
• call a friend 
• make a piece of art, just for the fun of it 
• dance to a favorite song; invite a friend to join you
• help a friend in need
• volunteer at an organization you believe in
• learn something new
• spend time in nature 
• attend a meditation retreat or worship service

Feel free to share any reflections or comments on this post.