What are the seeds of violence?

This blog offering is a response to my renewed/old friend Jerry DeMarco's article in the Examiner about a beat cop in Passaic.

The seeds of violence that produce the fruits of abuse, violence in the home, war and all manner of crime are not hard to find, to track and to understand. What is difficult is the processing of uprooting the violent seeds and replacing them with seeds of love, patience, peace and an abundance of compassion.

Just think about the conditions that must exist, that would allow ANY human being to hurt, harm and do damage to any other human. Think about what must exist and what must be missing. Some time back I hit a deer while going home one night, it got up and ran off but I am sure it was hurt. I was sick to my stomach knowing that I harmed this beautiful creature. Having said that, I cannot imagine raising a hand to purposefully harm another.

But we know that this level and frequency of violence exists and so it would behoove us to understand its roots so we can be on the lookout for it and rework the formula.


The evidence of violence exists where the seeds of self-love, self-acceptance and connection with all other humans have not been properly propagated. In the places in life where we move in communion with one another, in a rhythm and syncopation, we rarely do harm. But one of the main seeds of violence is the belief that we are separate from one another and out of that belief is the overall belief that "they are against me." Anywhere we are measuring anything by means of us and them, separation begins. Anywhere where we are consumed with the me, me, me, my, my, my and more, more, more, there in that mindset grows greed, separation and looking out for number one.


The seeds that need to be propagated are the seeds of: we are all ONE, there is no private good, when anyone succeeds - all succeed, no one is against me and so much more. Violence cannot exist in these places. Violence exists because of fear, pain and wounds. But if take time to heal those wounds, to relieve the pain and to release the fear, then suddenly and what might seem miraculously what appears is a sense of peace and a foundation of possibility.


I feel deeply for the victims of crime and violence but I also feel for the perpetrators because of what conditions exist inside of them that made room for this possibility. If you care and if you want to make a difference, healing begins with planting, watering and fertilizing the seeds of love, acceptance and compassion first with yourself, then at home, at work and in your community. WE WHO CARE MUST BE THE CHANGE, there is no one else.