Processing the violence.

Content warnings: Gun Violence, Murder

Tonight, my heart is aching.

This month, my heart has been aching.

A mass shooting in Atlanta. A mass shooting in Boulder. A car jacking in Washington D.C.. A mass shooting in Virginia Beach. Another shooting in Henrico, in the very neighborhood within walking distance of my high school.

That’s not even a comprehensive list - that’s just the list that’s made it to me despite my very, very, very strong filtering against the news these days.

And that’s not even addressing the verbal violence from various people in power, the legislative violence being pushed through to disenfranchise voters, the economic violence keeping workers from a living wage and the dignity of being able to support themselves and their families, the environmental violence against our air, water, soil, and natural resources and so much more.

I. Just. Can’t.

What is looping in my head is the lyrics to Maitreem Bhajata, by His Holiness, the Paramacharya of Kanchi - specifically the following lines:

yuddham tyajata Renounce war

sphardāṃ tyajata Foreswear competition

tyajata pareśvakramamākramaṇam Give up aggression on others which is wrong

And the nearly last line -

dāmyata datta dayadhvaṃ janatāḥ Ye people of the world, restrain yourself, give, be kind

This is not something individuals alone can solve. Our entire system is immoral, and it needs to be remade from the ground up.

But we can do something. And we must.

You can find the full song translated here, including M. S. Subbalakshmi Amma’s rendition of at the United Nations on October 23, 1966.

In full disclosure - the other song fighting for space in my head is “This is America” by Childish Gambino. Because it is. The gulf between what is and what should be seems insurmountably wide at this moment. But I’m trying not to give into that.