I am guilty...I rejoiced in someone else's pain last night. I celebrated when Lebron James' team lost in the finals. I didn't celebrate a Maverick's victory, I didn't even celebrate a Heat loss, I celebrated Jame's misery. Why? Is it because I think he is egotistical? Is it because I think he is selfish? Is it because I think he is cocky (c'mon King James, really?)? It it because I am jealous that he is making millions playing a game (hmmmm)? Even if all those reasons are true, it gives me no right to celebrate his pain or rejoice in his hurting.
What causes humans to rejoice in the pain of other humans? I'm not sure but I would guess we are the only species that does that. The old phrase comes to mind: misery loves company. A friend of mine put it this way: those who are hurting hurt others. We pass along hurt like it is a virus (maybe it is more similar than we realize). I don't think we do it intentionally but we do it. What would happen if we nipped it in the bud and refused to pas it along? Could we eradicate it like the small pox virus? Could we at least minimize it so that it isn't a plague? Imagine what would happen if when we are hurt we passed on love instead of pain? It will not be easy, but I think it would make for a wonderful world to live in.
It's funny that you write about this today, because I was pondering my recent failed friendship, and thought about how hurt I felt, and that all I wanted to do was lash out and hurt my friend back. If I look at it like you point out in this blog though, she was originally hurting when she decided to be hurtful towards me, so it becomes tit-for-tat; a mini-war, if you will. Mini-wars are the seeds of full-blown war, and I agree that if we responded to hurt with love, war would all but be a bad memory. Great post!
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