On Being Humankind

We all want our opinions to be validated. We long to say, “I was right and you were wrong.”

This virus has created great polarity.

Both sides are angry. Both are fearful.

Both sides are arguing: my science is better than your science.

Neither side is listening to the other.

If you’ve chosen to isolate, wear a mask, and get a vaccine, do you find yourself saying, “Those other people are so selfish. I hope they get sick. It’s what they deserve. Then they’ll realize how stupid they’re being.”

If you’ve chosen not to mask, lockdown or get the vaccine, do you say, “Those people are brainwashed and believe the propoganda. I hope they get blood clots or some other side effect. It’s what they deserve. Then they’ll see the truth.”

Maybe we don’t say the words aloud. But we think them.

I admit I caught myself thinking along one of those lines this week, followed by the thought, “When did I become the kind of person that would wish another misfortune?”

First, do no harm.

Perhaps the simple, oft-quoted phrase of the Hippocratic Oath should become the refrain of humankind.

Words are powerful. Thinking ill thoughts for another stems from our fears. It fuels our rage, justifies our beliefs, and fills our cells with dis-ease.

Did you ever think you would become the kind of person who spews hatred about and onto another?

I don’t have any psychic insight into how to end this great divide. What I can do is share the words of Kryon—the first true words I’ve heard in a long while—that were spoken recently in the Healing Circle of Twelve:

Please be kind to one another.

Honor each other.

What if, instead of wishing ill fortune for someone whose views oppose our own, we request a benevolent outcome?

Regardless of your position in the debate, can you ask this for someone with an opposing view, whether a friend, a loved one, or a stranger:

Let nothing inappropriate from the virus or vaccine touch him/her/them.

Wishing the best for someone doesn’t require that one side be right and the other wrong.

If it is difficult for you to say the words, spend some time examining that reluctance.

Here is another suggestion. This Living Prayer comes from “The Gentle Way” by Thomas T. Moore.

I ask that the general attitudes of all the peoples on the Earth become compatible with the general attitudes of all other people on Earth.

Namaste.