There are two guys out in Wyoming who will get up this morning and eat a hot breakfast. They used to be roofing workers, but now they lead much different lives. They will get lunch and dinner too. Tonight, they will go to sleep in their beds and do it all over again tomorrow.
But 22 years ago, they changed another man’s life forever. Those two men are Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney. And on October 12, 1998, they met Matthew Shepherd, a University of Wyoming student. They found him at a gay bar, of all places, called the Fireside Lounge. Those two white, heterosexual men. However, they managed it. They lured Matthew Shepherd out into the parking lot, where they beat him and robbed him of what little he had. They didn’t like gays, didn’t think gay people should have a place in this world, that they should be eradicated. So they started with this one.
As we all know, beating Matthew Shepherd was not enough. They drove him out to a very remote area and tortured him. Tied his naked body to a wooden fence, and that is where they left him in the freezing Wyoming cold. They left him there to die. And he did. He was just 21 years old.
So now we are back to Torrington, Wyoming. That is where Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney live, in a medium-security prison. It probably isn’t a great place to live, but it is fairly new, having been built in 2010. And that is where they eat three meals a day. They are probably allowed to be outside for large amounts of time each day. I imagine they can read books and write letters. There are most like classes in which they can enroll and learn new skills.
And I don’t know how I feel about that. Which is quite a conundrum for me, spiritually. I don’t think it is fair.
There is something about people who hate so fiercely that they seek — actively seek — to harm others. And these aren’t just 22-year-old stories. This hatred is so alive and well, right now, in the United States, that it makes my stomach turn.
Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan, nearly experienced a similar fate. There was a plan by militia groups to kidnap her — white men who believe in their superiority. These are nothing more hate-based groups who are armed to the teeth. And here we are in America.
I wish I could talk to my Dad about all of this. He has long passed. But while he walked around, here on earth, living and breathing, every bit of him was filled with peace.
I guess I know what he would tell me. He’d say we should open our hearts. He’d tell me that we should “sow” love where there is hatred. Or something along those lines.
Opening my heart is hard sometimes. But deep inside, I know what energy does. And our emotions create a powerful field of energy. It is created by our thoughts, our intentions, our focus. Whatever it is we are projecting, that is the very thing we will manifest.
So, when faced with hatred, I suppose that if we want a better outcome, it is up to us to fill that energy with love. If we seek a better manifestation, then we need to plant those seeds with our thoughts, our intentions, and our actions.
==========
“For it is in giving that we receive.”
― St. Francis of Assisi
==========
“Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun.”
― Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor’s Handbook
=========
“Speak the truth. Do not become angered. Give when asked, even be it a little. By these three conditions one goes to the presence of the gods.”
― Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni
==========
What we do, when it doesn’t seem right.
