By Guest Blogger: Erica Sewell, Youth & Education Program Manager for Sister Cities International
We live in a society where acts of violence have become all too common. Watching the evening news has become a never ending horror movie. Person A was murdered and in retaliation Person B was murdered. The cycle of violence has become a tit for tat. When I look at all the violent acts that have been committed one always stands out not because it was unbelievably gruesome but because it offers a glimpse of hope. In October of 2006 Charles Carl Roberts IV walked into an Amish one room school house in Nickel Mine, PA and took the life of ten young girls before taking his own. The killings at the Amish schoolhouse were horrendous and the question of why and how could someone take the lives of these innocent young girls haunted me. What has been surprising (and to many incomprehensible) has been the Amish community’s reaction to the shootings. The Amish community did not speak of retaliation or of suing the Roberts family but rather embraced the widow of the killer by inviting her to the funerals. Even the grandfather of one of the slain girls was urging people to forgive Charles Roberts.
What lessons can the world learn from the Amish community’s act of forgiveness? The Amish community’s reaction was very powerful because their words illustrated how a cycle of violence can be broken by the act of forgiveness. There is Buddhist saying that “words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.” To me this means that words are like a double-edged sword; they can either incite violence or advocate for peace. The Amish community’s reaction to the shootings provides me with hope and proves that acts of revenge are not the only option in the face of adversity or violence. For me that was a very powerful life lesson.
Question of the Day: How else do you think we can stop the cycle of violence?
No comments:
Post a Comment