We aren’t seeing many pretty fall colors here in my small town, but I saw this tree in my next-door-neighbor’s yard. It’s the first really bold color I’ve seen. I’m hoping there will be more.
I spent the day Saturday back in Winnsboro to visit with some friends, and we were completely disconnected from the internet and news. It wasn’t until I got home Saturday night that I found out about the shooting in the Pittsburgh synagogue. Before that even happened, I’d been considering sharing the following, and it is even more relevant now.
I’m reading a book by Camilla Lackberg titled The Hidden Child. The setting is Sweden, in a small town where two murders have taken place. As the investigation proceeds, the police have been talking to members of a Neo-Nazi type organization with members who have connections back to World War II and the atrocities committed by the German Nazis.
In a conversation with one of the leaders of this Neo-Nazi group, Franz, one of the police officers, Martin looks at Franz while trying to digest what the man has just said. “Man has never been an individual. We are one element of a group. One part of a collective. And these groups have fought against one another throughout history, fought for their place within the hierarchy of the world order. You might wish that things were different. But they are not.”
After Franz finishes speaking, Martin feels a shiver run down his spine. And he thinks that there is something deeply frightening by being faced with such fanatical conviction. From the book, “The realization that there was no logic on Earth that would convince the other man, and his ilk, that their view of the world was distorted chilled Martin to the bone. Martin had always believed that if you could just reason with a person, you would truly be able to reach a core that could be changed. But in the eyes of this man he saw a core so fiercely protected by rage and hatred that it would never be possible to penetrate its defenses.”
When I read this I couldn’t help but think of what is going on currently in modern society. Not just here in the United States but around the world where hatred and rage dominate so many places, rendering people unable to think, unable to reason, unable to even consider another point of view. What a sad commentary on the human condition of today and the world order that we are establishing to pass on to our children and our grandchildren.
And how sad that once again Jewish people have had to suffer another tragedy and totally unwarranted prejudice.
That’s all for me for today, folks. I hope you have peace and joy this week.