The Seeds of Hatred

You can tell what kind of seeds were buried in the ground by what kind of crop comes up. Thoughts are seeds. You can tell the prevailing thoughts of a person by the kind of action they produce. In the last few days, we have witnessed the unmistakable crop of hatred spreading its branches across the nation. SThese acts have taken the form of murderous racism when two African-Americans, a man, and a woman were killed at a Louisville, Kentucky Krogers, simply for being black by a White Supremacist. Then there was the extraordinary case of the multiple bombs being sent to high-profile Democrats, including President Barrack Obama, The Clintons, Joe Biden, and others. No city was hit harder than Pittsburgh where The Tree of Life Synagogue lost 11 of its congregants to an anti-semitic gunman who shouted anti-jewish slurs as he fired his weapons. What is going on in the minds of these perpetrators? What drives them to act in such evil ways, and what can we do to slow the roll of these homegrown terrorists?

It has already been said that thoughts are seeds so we can turn our attention to who are those who are planting such evil thoughts in the minds of our fellow citizens. We know that words matter. There are those who write or speak them recklessly. There are still others who are prone to act upon them. We know these things to be true because we have wiitne3ssed crowds whipped into a frenzy by a fiery speaker before. In extreme cases, History has borne witness to the likes of Hitler promoting genocide against the Jews through the power of his words. We can see that the minds of ordinary people can be poisoned by the writings or spoken word of a powerful manipulator. The opposite is also true. People can be inspired to benevolent thoughts and deeds by the inspirational words of others. We must become spiritual warriors because as the Bible says, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world..." We are admonished to "put on the whole armor of God." The kind of deeds we are witnessing today is definitely the result of spiritual wkckedn4ss, and it will take spiritual goodness to combat it.

We can not respond in kind to battle these evil forces but must demonstrate the power of love at work. We must love the people they have and include the hater in that love as well. As Jesus Christ was being crucified he prayed to God, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." Now that was a supreme demonstration of love.

So many crimes and hate crimes are being committed with a gun. The most popular weapon if the AR-15 Assault Rifle. Although there have been historic mass killings with this weapon, there has been no success in removing it from the market. The National Rifle Association and its powerful lobby refuse to bulge. It seems that people love their guns more than they do people. If guns were not so easy to get, less people would be shot. When I was in Law-Enforcement I had my gun within reach 24/7 but when I left the field I immediately gave up my weapon. I did not want to have it as a temptation. If you have a gun, it may be your go-to weapon no matter what the situation is. In today's world we have also seen hate direct people into turning every day utilities into weapons. Objects like cars and trucks have been used to murder unsuspecting people in acts of terrorism.The terroriists are so motivated by hatred that they oflten do not think of their own surviival but go on suicide missions. This is a hard mindset to battle.

The toioils we have at our disposal are prayer and meditation. We mulst charge the aiirways with celestrial vibrations to coounteract the negative energy.We must hold our leaders to a higher moral standard so they do not appear to support racism or xenophobia. The leaders of a country, such as the president of the United States has great impact on theconsciousness of the people. He needs to guard his tongue. The president is quick to say uncivil words or to attack people by their culture, and we have seen a rise in Aericans doing the same.Wouldn't we be better off judging people as indivduals rather than en mass. Every peerson on this planet arrived as an infant, innocent and pure. Suppose we could still still see that in them. Everyone has this History, even the haters. If we want to look for the good in everyone, meditate on the precious baby they once were. It will awaken your compassion. How coulld something so good go so wrong? Prayer changes things. Pray!