The Innocents
There are people who aren’t trustworthy, who see animals
as objects. Used and abused, humans profit from their
suffering. Some people are not empathic, and cannot feel
distress, (theirs or others). They’ve built a stony wall around
their heart and no light penetrates. These people bring animals
(and children. There are people who should not raise children
either, but there’s no law against it) into their home and torture
them. Those with no words, the Innocents, rely on our protection.
Do not look the other way.
If we are all One, to harm another being is to harm one’s self.
But only the sighted will see this. Those who cannot feel the
suffering of others will continue their abuse and cloak it in
disguise. Religion, artistry or some kind of sick and twisted
“benevolence” (creating a Master Race?) and those of us that
see the truth, will have to make a choice.
Do we stand up for the Innocents or do we quietly look away,
pretending its not that bad, believing it’s people’s choice to
behave in ways which are anti-life, hoping they’ll get theirs in
the end and in the meantime, the Innocents drown in the wake
of their atrocities.
I was an Innocent. Until the tender age of 7, when i was raped by the
teenaged brother of a neighbor friend. My parents were drunk when I came
home, and I have never felt more alone. I never told, what was the point?
I wept for my lost innocence and made a sacred vow to protect those without protection, so they wouldn’t feel so alone. And then it got too hard. I closed my heart, sat in the dark and turned all my rage against my own sweet soul. Frightened and alone, unable to ask for help, I tried to end my life. I’m telling you all this because I want to show you that no matter how bleak, no matter how much you’ve endured, continue to endure, the path with feeling is always the better way. What crawls out from the rock you’ve put on it is terrible and ugly, but you have to make peace with it. Bathe it and air it and listen to its story. Having seen both sides, having lived through the very worst parts of your life, it will become your greatest ally.
It’s quite easy to love the lovable. The challenge is, when everything in
you wants to turn away, close your eyes, board up your heart or run the
other way, the challenge is to stay open. Everyone has this courage.
Deep in the lotus of your soul, in the unattractive muck, a beautiful flower
blossoms from dignity and respect. I promise you it’s true. All the great
masters have told us. Love the unlovely. Hate never heals. I see you the
way I see myself. If I see myself as tainted, damaged, or unworthy, I will
never see the Light in you.
In a perfect world, no thing would hurt any thing. No one would need protection because Only Love would nurture, heal and sustain us. We’re still a long way off from this (Heaven on Earth), but I can’t live without the hope of a peaceful planet. It got me through my childhood, and it gets me through disturbing news. We are born in love, born from love. Whatever synapses become horribly frayed and tangled, I still believe we can live in Love. Choose Love. Do it for yourself. Your friends and family. Your planet. Do it for the Innocents.
Lori Beth McCray May 25, 2011
