Don't Hate What You Don't Understand

As I surfed the internet yesterday I came across a familiar picture. I’ve seen it a million times but this time a thought went through my head that never has before. Here is the picture: 

“Don’t hate what you don’t understand”. Good advice that many people need to take. Hatred is ignorance. These are the thoughts this picture previously brought to my mind.

Here’s what went through my mind this time.

Hatred is lazy.

First let me say there are things that absolutely, unquestionably are worthy of hate. Rape, murder, Adolph Hitler and many other clearly evil acts and people are a fact of life in our imperfect world and hatred for them is completely justified. However, hate most often is a response to our lack of understanding.

Why do we read? Why are some of us obsessed with reading? What is the reading experience about? I will explore these questions in coming weeks.  I would love to hear any thoughts you have on the subject.

There are many things can be accomplished in a unique manner through reading.   Among those things is the ability of reading to help us work through grief.

In her article, "Reading Through", on huffingtonpost.com following the Sandy Hook tragedy Bethanne Patrick recommends reading for precisely this purpose. Reading has a unique ability to allow “us to enter into to the consciousness of other people”, she says. 

We more fully understand the reality of all sides of such senseless acts through reading books that get us inside the minds of other parents that have lost children to similar tragedies or books that get us inside the minds of survivors of such events, the families of people who commit such crimes, or families of the victims. 

Reading can be very healing for many reasons.  One of those is the understanding and insights we gain.  I believe though, that the core reason that reading is healing is that it allows us to share a very human experience.  We share our pain and no longer feel alone.  Moments spent in the minds and hearts of those closer to the tragedy are moments of shared grief and we find comfort there.