A kind word from his father encouraging his artwork … A kind word from an art school official instead of a rude rejection … A kind word from a passerby when he was begging for food … A kind word from a stranger when he was mourning his brother or his mother … Any one of these courageous acts could have very well turned the tide and opened the door for Adolf Hitler to replace the path of murder with a path of Peace … Yes , Hitler chose the evil way , and he most certainly paid a terrible price for that choice . And yet he was NOT born “ evil ”, nor was he an “ evil man ”. He was simply a man in immense pain who made extremely cowardly and extremely evil decisions .
We like to look at our enemies as “ other than ” — we like to criticize & gossip about & point the scathing finger at those in our lives who don ’ t treat us the way we wish to be treated . Indeed , it ’ s so much easier to point the one finger out at others than to have the humility to look in the mirror at our own failures . For we too have turned away from the homeless beggar … We too have ignored friends in need … We too have denigrated politicians from “ opposing parties ” … We too have expressed fear of those who look & act differently than we … We too have sat back passively and watched while our own government continues to commit acts of cold cruelty and raw injustice .
And yet , we too are intensely GOOD within — and we too can make a HUGE positive difference in the lives of those around us . Indeed , we are quite fortunate that we are presented every day with the opportunity to stop evil dead in its tracks , as every “ mean person ” we meet has the potential to become another Hitler .
And yet , when we have the courage to extend to those people the one thing they are so desperately seeking — the Caring Kindness that has been withheld from them for so long – then the “ evil ” within them has no choice but to flee ; it will have no choice but to let those people reawaken to how wonderful it feels to be “ nice ” and “ good ” again .
LOVE has the guts to reach out to those least deserving of Love … In this way , we do our part … In this way , we remake “ evil ” into the change we wish to see … So , -- got LOVE ?
“ Mankind has grown strong in eternal struggles and it will only perish through eternal peace … How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don ’ t think .” ~ Adolf Hitler
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