Whew.  Sometimes, the news of the world really makes me sad.

I just read the newest article about the teenager who was beaten to death, by his own parents, and fellow congregation members at the Word of Life Christian Church, in New Hartford, NY.

Yep.  A kid named Lucas.  Nineteen years old.  They thought he was practicing witchcraft. So, they started their “counseling” session on a Sunday evening, and didn’t stop until Monday.  When Lucas was dead.

At the Word of Life Christian Church, in New Hartford, NY.

Conversely, I am reading a couple of books on spirituality.  They both talk of “higher” elevations of energy.

One book says that we are all the same, connected by one thing, an underlying source of love. That we are all of the same mind. The analogy follows:  “Just as the wave can’t separate itself from the ocean, we cannot separate ourselves from one another.  We are all a part of this vast sea of love, one indivisible divine mind.”

And none of this makes a bit of sense to me.

To read one.  And then read the other.

Maybe I feel too deeply about things. Because tonight, all I can feel is hopelessly sad for all of it.

There is no part of what happened to that boy… that seems like love to me.  I feel like I HAVE to disconnect myself from that.  From them.

The other book just said to take part in experiment of practicing unconditional love.   I’m not sure about that right now either.  But just now, as I looked down… Frances was standing right beside me… beaming up at me with her “puppy eyes” from her very old face.  She knows what it is.  And then there’s me.

I’m not sure I will ever understand any of this.

I guess the one thing I know, is that my life is filled with many beautiful abundances.  Good things abound.  And for those many, many gifts, I am grateful to the spirit of life.

So I give thanks.

As for understanding?  Maybe I never will.   And maybe its not for me to understand.

I guess Pliny the Elder once said: Hope is the pillar that holds up the world. Hope is the dream of a waking man.

So, with that.  I can always hope.

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.
Desmond Tutu

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division.
Jesse Jackson