The Fight By the Parking Lot

Written by: Sister Jenna

What creates the fire in a human being to intend on physically harming another?  If discovered and attended to, what are the possibilities for healing the world
from this new vantage point?

On a recent warm summer afternoon, in the family friendly town of Silver Spring, Maryland, two young men began lashing out at each other, punching and grabbing the other with the snarl of hatred and intent to hurt. 

My first thought was to wish it to stop, instantly recognizing two souls capable of so much more than fists of rage. Next, was a call to action but, what?  What can I do about two men violently abusing each other outside, at a distance?  As I
moved to solicit a second opinion, one broke away.  A pause...A breath...  He let go.  One always has to let go first.   One has to acknowledge what is not working,
and listen to his voice within to move on.

It is up to the other to accept.  He began to follow him, still full of rage, an unmet desire or need.  Again, my thought was, ‘No, let it go.’  He did.  He slowly stopped walking forward and shifted his energy toward the feeling of victory. What makes the defeat of another our own victory?  Nothing in us has grown, but we can for a brief moment, numb our own hurt and fear with another’s.  It’s a great tragedy of the human experience.

What was the karmic bondage between the two?  I have no idea.  What was obvious was the pain that existed in both of them.  What needed to be said?  What needed to be felt?  And how had both been given such little attention that the result was violence? Every moment is a choice.  We may choose love or fear.  Enough moments of either can lead to a fountain of goodness or a well of despair. 

Baba, who is known as the Supreme Being, watches as we His children, humbly carry out the sacred contracts of drama.  The roles that we continue to play with each other and with ourselves, for a moment, years, or a lifetime.  All of the material is available for us to choose.  And then choose to let go, and move on.