“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”
– James Baldwin
Yes, we cling to our hates.
We also cling to arrogance and selfishness.
We cling to certainty and control.
We cling to unhealthy appetites.
We cling to external validation and extrinsic rewards.
All because it is so frightening, so difficult to confront our pain.
And what I have seen, what I have witnessed, is that on the other side of that great divide lies a freedom, a lightness and a compassion that is all-surpassing and all-encompassing.
Do you remember when Indiana Jones walks across the invisible stone bridge? He has to believe it’s there before he knows it’s there.
And so it is with getting to the other side of pain.
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