Yom Hashoah and Virginia Tech

We live in a violent world. That goes without saying, but occasionally we get very shocking reminders of this fact. I can't even begin to understand the shock and the horror occurring right now on the campus of Virginia Tech. They have understandably cancelled classes for the rest of the week.

Coincidentally, today is Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Jewish people have had to deal with violence and hatred throughout their history as a people. The atrocities committed against them by Nazi Germany will be etched on the minds and hearts of Jews worldwide forever. I can't even begin to understand the grief and the sadness of this day.

These two events drive me to silence. As I reflect on these unfortunate events, I am sadly reminded of the violence that is contained in my own heart. "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer," I am told by the apostle James. Many times in my life I've harbored hatred and ill will toward others, and what is contained in the heart is manifested in outward action, which could be expressed in different forms.

The perpetrator of yesterday's shootings manifested what was in his own heart using firearms. Nazi Germany manifested what was in its heart through concentration camps, gas chambers, and mass graves. I manifest what is in my own heart by carrying grudges, ignoring people in need, sarcasm, and indifference. How does it happen with you?

The manifestations are different. The source is always the same. Perhaps one of the best ways of dealing with the violence in our world is to seek healing for the violence within ourselves. As Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh once said (and I'm paraphrasing), we can send all of our munitions to the Moon but it wouldn't make any difference because we would just make more. The problem is the human heart that finds it necessary to produce and use weaponry against fellow humans.