Scrotch-Scrotch-Scrotch

My neighbor had a Beagle named Alvin, and Alvin loved to snack on earthworms.  

Alvin’s owner and I were having a conversation outside when I heard, “Scrotch-Scrotch-Scrotch.”  I looked down to see Alvin scraping his teeth on the sidewalk trying to dislodge a dried-up earthworm – not good for his dental health.  It’s amazing what self-destructive things people and other animals will do in order to engage their passions.  And passions embrace many kinds of appetites, including the desire to feel superior by hating another. 

I understand the feeling.  I’ve been there myself.   I’m repeatedly tempted to go back and, to my shame, I get a reminder that I’m out of line when I point a finger.

Can we hope that at some point the human spirit will evolve toward a more corroborative mindset?  The model has actually been with us for a long, long time. 

In order to practice hatred, one must first divide.  There must be the “them and us.”  The division can be anywhere where there is a difference: political, cultural, racial, between species, between genders, and even between humans and creation itself.  But there is a thread in the fabric of most religions that points toward a healthier reality. 

A healthy spirituality sees God as loving parent, people as sisters and brothers coming from a common ancestor, humans as embedded and dependent on the natural world; all this is there if we just look, and read, and hear; if we embrace words of grace and commonality, actions of love.  The alternative is destructive passions based on ego and a can of worms for a life.  The choice should be obvious. 

- Neal Z.