For Nixzmary Brown

Yet again an adult given to pure evil has murdered another child.

This time in Brooklyn, New York 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown was beaten to death by her step-father Cesar Rodriguez. He then tossed her on the floor of what the family called their "dirty room," a rodent-infested room where little Nixzmary had been tied up and left with only a litter box as a toilet. This little second grader had been beaten, starved and sexually molested in the weeks before her 'care giver' brutally murdered her by a blow to her head. She weighed only 36 pounds... In her short time on earth the adults entrusted by God to love and nurture this child treated her worse than most people would treat a vicious animal.

Others will, no doubt, debate the role of the child protective services that let little Nixzmary fall through the cracks in the system. Some may use the case to advocate the death penalty or some other political agenda. I don’t know what the answers are in dealing with most of the world’s problems. I find I am often at a loss to know what the right course of action is in many of the problems that plague our race. I can’t comprehend the scope of the problem of child abuse. I do understand love and I understand the pain of one child. My heart goes out to this one little girl who never got a chance.

I know that every child is made in the image of the Living God and is worthy of love. I know that God is watching us. I know He entrusts us with children for us to love them and teach them to be decent human beings. I know that every child that dies will breathe again. I know that every child will know the love of God…one day.

This story will only be a footnote in the news outlets that report it at all. Such things happen too often, every day and in every country on earth. We've become used to them. Instead of stopping to take notice, most people will go on with their lives like the murder of this one child has no effect on their world. This was a crime against humanity. That affects all of us.

May people of good will take notice. The bell tolls for thee...

The Strongest Among Us

The New Testament speaks of spiritual gifts that God bestows on people as He uses them to do His will. One such gift is the gift of healing. It’s not considered one of the more important gifts but it made a lasting impression on the suffering at the time of the early church. I only know that if I could have any gift from God to serve my fellow man, it would be the gift of healing. Compassion moves me to want to ease the suffering of people, especially children. I can only imagine the unspeakable joy of being able to empty out the cancer ward in a children’s hospital by healing all of them.

Unlike some people, I have never questioned God in allowing the innocent to suffer. Innocent people suffer. It's a part of life on earth I think we, human beings, bring on ourselves for the most part. If we would simply obey the laws of God a great deal of suffering would be alleviated. Like all children whose parents love them, we were given the instructions to keep us safe. Out of our rebellious attitudes we’ve ignored them. God wants us to be healthy and happy in this life and He has left us an instruction manual for just that purpose. We still seem to have a good deal of growing up to do before we’ve learned the lesson…our Creator knows what is best for His creation.

That children suffer from illness, disease, natural disasters, violence and war while the adults in their lives must stand by helplessly can tear my heart out. I know I’m not alone in that. It occurs to me in watching it that Gods purpose is being served even in that suffering. The lessons of compassion and love that I’ve seen and heard pour over me like a warm rain.

It seems to me that some children have a strength of spirit not found among adults. The strongest among us have become our teachers in their suffering. Watching it can break our hearts…and like the saying goes, a broken heart is an open heart.

I don’t pretend to be able to see the big picture…but I have the faith that God does. While, most often, the suffering that children endure seems random, the lives they touch reach out far and wide. The hearts they open reveal who we really are. In that, their pain can serve Gods purpose. No life goes unnoticed in Gods eyes. No innocents suffer without His special notice. I have no doubt that they will be rewarded for their suffering and for their gifts to us.

The only issue left seems to be what we do with the lessons we’ve learned from watching innocents suffer. Do we ignore it and go on with our lives? Do we seek some kind of revenge? Do we curse God? Or, do we choose to honor the young lives cut short and open our hearts to love each other more?

With One Voice

It was in martial arts that I learned the concept of ‘Kime’, the Japanese word for focus. I know from experience that it’s possible to put my hand through ten inches of concrete with kime. Physics dictates that it should be impossible…but I’ve done it. The psychology behind it is fascinating. When you think, for example, “I’m thinking”, you’ve created a duality in yourself. A part of you is watching you. Kime teaches you to unify all your energies into one point. There is no more “I am walking”…it becomes simply “walking”.

That’s a state of mind that’s sought after in Eastern schools of meditation. In Japan it is called Zammai, in India it's known as Samahdi. Samahdi is a natural state of mind that everyone has experienced. It's when one is so wholly engaged in some activity that one forgets oneself. In Eastern schools of thought it’s systematically sought after and practiced. It is the removal of the ego, the sense of ‘I’, from the picture.

In Kime it’s sought after to focus all of ones energies into the task at hand. The mind, the body and the spirit all work together to accomplish ones goal.

I used to teach rape-defense classes for various police departments. The very first things I would address with a room full of new women were the psychological aspects of self-defense. If a woman was raised to be a ‘good girl’ and believe that good girls don’t hit people, she would have to recondition herself to understand that sometimes it’s OK. Perhaps someone was raised in a religious home and taught that good ‘Jewish girls, Christians, Buddhists, whatever…’ don’t hurt people. That too, is a kind of conditioning that must be addressed before any physical technique will work. If one believes that it’s wrong for them to hurt someone else their biggest battle, when confronted with an attacker, will be with themselves. If you use, say 50% of your energy to fight your own conditioning, that only leaves you with 50% of your energy to fight off an attacker. If all of you believes it’s OK to defend yourself before you’re attacked you have 100% of your energy available to you. For the average American woman who weighs say, 125 pounds, to fight off the average American man who weighs maybe 165, she will need all of her energy for the fight. If all her energy isn’t available she’s more than likely to lose.

The principle of Kime, or focus, can be applied to many things. There are, of course, other voices in us that aren't unified most of the time. If you do something you believe is wrong, you are working agaist yourself. If all of you isn’t behind something it isn’t a ‘pure’ act. A pure act is one in which there is no inner conflict to address.

In the age of computers another analogy can be applied. If you give your computer one command, then give it a competing command, it can seize up. The human brain works in a similar way. Doubt, fear, anxiety, worry etc. all work to send competing commands to someone engaged in an action wherein they need all their energies. Most of those feelings involve thoughts about the future. They can be avoided if one lives in the present.

Living in the present or ‘in the moment’, means to focus all your awareness and energy on what you’re doing…even if it’s only sitting. It’s easier said than done but with practice it can be readily achieved. It frees up ones energies so that they’re available at the moment they’re needed. Unfortunately most people don’t know about the simple skills necessary to achieve Kime. Most people don’t know what a ‘pure act’ is, except for the random times they naturally occur.

Most of humanities battles are the battles within individuals. Because it’s easier to face an opponent outside of us…most of our inner battles are played out in conflicts with other human beings. If human beings are ever to come to a place wherein they are free of inner conflicts, they’ll need to learn to speak with one voice.

It is the man who has conquered himself that has won the greatest victory. Inner peace is the greatest strength…