In the middle of that day in September, I heard fighter jets flying over the sky of Manhattan. They were loud. In the evening, there were people holding candles and voluntarily meeting at the open square of Columbia University. It was a very uplifting scene. They sang songs of solidarity, of hope and peace. In the midst of tragedy and confusion, I experienced the beautiful side of humanity. If you were there with me that week going to chapels, churches, synagogues, mosques and public places, you would join me in seeing no sign of division and vengeance, but the spirit of love and faith, despite being deeply hurt. It is a paradox. It is life.
What happened next was an unprecedented openness and cooperation of all world religions to offer prayers, to open their sacred spaces for public meditation and lamentation, to hold public gathering and lectures to unpack their experiences until one day when Islam-phobia kicked in and unleashed the sentiment of hatred in many communities. Government polices were put into place that made innocent bystanders who just happened to be cultural minorities miserable. The old trick of survival kicked in.
Ten years later, we are still in the midst of finding meaning. We must be honest to ourselves that the hurt has not been fully healed. Some may suggest it could never be healed. All world religions see themselves as agents of peace and that compassion is needed to care for the world and our neighbours. But all world religions process some ideas or could go extreme to see their own visions and forms as the exclusive desire of the divine. (This may be overstated since I cannot remember which idea in Buddhism is aggressive.) Fundamentalism and extremism occur not only in other religions but also in the Christian camp. Ten years later, rigidly and hate-filled intolerance continue to dominate some Christian circles. Although some progresses have been made, collectively as a people we must not let interreligious understanding and cooperation slip from our daily living and learning.
Ten years later, we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are still suffering from the event. My hope for the future is that we learn not to lay any blame to anyone. We are not interested in singling out one religious and cultural group as the problem. We refuse to let hatred and intolerance infect the human spirit. Our own existence will be in danger if we give intolerance a chance. It is possible that our prejudices and unrepentance spirit destroy our love for peace.
May we not let Jesus’ message of forgiveness fall on deaf ears. It is hard work. Such message may sound holy on good days, but it is in those days when life is tough that we need to exercise it. Forgiveness can occur individually, communally and nationally. In the Hebrew text, Joseph’s message to his brothers who have done harm to him, “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good,” is very likely a reflection in hindsight after some years. It is incredibly difficult to say something like this when we are still living with the immediate aftermath of tragedy. Yet, forgiveness is possible when we reflect upon it in later years. Forgiveness doesn’t require forgetting, it simply not letting hatred haunt us eternally. God has set us a banquet of love in the face of hatred, showering us with love that is greater than the power of weapons or the threat of death.
“Violence will prevail over violence, only when someone can prove to me that darkness can be dispelled by darkness.” Gandhi
0 comments:
Post a Comment