We Never Know
I guess there is not one single person in the world that does not have a love story to tell. I don't know any other concept more known and recognized than the concept of love. However, a fast look at the world makes me wonder sometimes if the world doesn't need a serious period of holidays to start all over again.
I am writing like this because yesterday in my newspaper something happened that shocked me. Two of my colleagues were severely beaten in a bad neighborhood. Suddenly, for no reason. The photographer came out of the car and without even saying a word he was immediately beaten. He stayed in a very bad medical condition. And this man, the photographer, is one of the nicest and most pacific persons I have ever had the pleasure to meet. So, I wonder, what makes a group of men beat someone they don't know; what made them beat him without giving him the chance to say a word?
Probably the better question is: why are these people so angry? What happened to them? Where did they get lost from themselves? I do believe that everyone has an idea, even if a light one, about what is love. So, what happened? What makes us lose respect for each other like this? Probably we should go to the politicians and say to them that those kind of neighborhoods are murder schools; probably we should say to them that another kind of architecture, another design, more police, more services, would make a lot of difference; probably we should go to the mothers of these violent young men and say what beautiful women they are, so that we could improve their self-esteem in a way that they could love their children more. But, would this bad movie then rewind? How can we rewind the facts of too much drugs, too much unemployment, too much misery, too much disrespect for the police and their job?
What is going to happen to children that were born there five years ago, three years ago or even today? Will they survive in a better way? And what about the other side, us? Do we have to put up with this kind of violence? And, after all, why are there always two sides? Why can't this be a better place? I don't have any kind of solution but I do believe that love comes from a feeling of safety and freedom, and we only achieve those things through security and discipline. I feel free when I trust in people around me.
I guess we are all to blame. I guess we are all innocent too. I guess the world needs holidays, and a great deal of love. I hope the photographer recovers soon and well; I hope the young men who did this can come to our side one day. But as Thomas More said, "My desire surpasses my hope of seeing it".
But we never know.