Point of No Return

 I didn't write anything about Kristallnacht's anniversary this year; in fact, I was swept away in my own emotions about other joys and losses. Maybe that is telling: new hopes and concerns will at times overshadow the past. But we must not forget.

Hatred has a sneaky way of creeping up on societies. A little marginalization here, a little distance there, and then, our children do not know one another. We are taught to fear what we do not know. Add in some propaganda and some lies...that fear turns to anger. For some, violence becomes justified. The world looks on in shock and disbelief, but then also moves on to easier matters, safer matters, more local ones. Hatred is granted permission, and it swells as much as it is allowed. Maybe even more.

I dedicate my life to modeling a welcoming spirit, to learning about "the other", to offering a helping hand where I can. Sometimes, that is enough. Sometimes, I go to sleep feeling like I have made an impact. With others like me, I know there is hope.

Sometimes, however, I worry that my efforts are too much. I've been told recently that "nobody likes an obsessive helper; it makes us feel inferior." (Gasp.) I've seen people I've mentored through inclusion grow into the very people who once excluded them. I've worried that I enable apathy by modeling the pain of caring too much.

Lately, however, I wonder if my efforts-- if our collective efforts-- are enough. I see hate speech flaring all over social media. I read about the pogrom in Amsterdam and can't stop thinking of the pogroms of October 7th. I have nightmares of the children of Gaza and Ukraine and Ethiopia and Haiti and Venezuela and...the list goes on. Can informed activism conquer all the media messages of entitlement and hatred? Can individual friendships across boundaries really counter all the ill-will spawned by powerful groups?

Kristallnacht, now, is seen as the point of no return in the Holocaust. The world looked on, briefly, in outrage. Then, the news cycle moved on. Democratic societies the world over did not actively condemn state-sponsored mob violence. Not enough, anyway, and certainly not soon enough.

We need a society that collectively says the following:

Look out for one another. We are all journeyers into the unknown. We must protect one another. We must love one another. We must see the children within each of us, and nurture the need as well as the potential.

When I was younger, I thought the C's would save the world: Create, communicate, connect.

Now, I think about the L's:

Love, laugh, learn, and lead.

I am hurting, and I sometimes need another L: Limits. But I am not alone. We are not alone. Let us continue to love one another. Let us find reasons to laugh, and let us learn about this vast world of humanity we are part of. Then, let us lead one another from the pain into a kinder, freer world. Let us lead the way into a world of active love.