Violence... the response to violence

As an extravagant fan of the circus, I have a favorite act...in addition to the trapeze, the acrobats, and the tightrope walkers...and it is called the "globe of death." As I reflected on the images of violence presented by Dom Helder, and outlined by Bob Bossie, the screaming of motorcycles racing up and down within a metal sphere kept coming to my mind. This image, like those of Dom Helder's or Bossie's, is of something out of control, yet it is choreographed to be an exercise in perfection. What has that to do with violence which is often random, sporadic, senseless and brutal?

Each of us has, at the core of our being, the capacity for tremendous acts of love, or for tremendous acts of destruction, of evil. When I see my friend, Getty, a fragile figure in her white leotard, walk into this "globe of death," and stand, outwardly serene, while the motorbikes scream around her, I envision the human spirit as being present in the seeming chaos, and actually ordering it, while at the same time being capable of great destruction and violence. This illustration of violence is evident. We can allow the violence around us to shape us, to become part of our very psyche, or we can allow it to remain outside of us, we can deal with it. The people of whom Sr. Dolores Lytle speaks in her article have learned that each of us can do something to counteract the violence around us, even though we feel helpless in the face of it. In a recent book, The Death of Satan, the author, Andrew Delbanco, says (as noted in The National Catholic Reporter) that we have no vocabulary capable of dealing with the immense repertoire of evil around us. If we are incapable of naming the evil or the source of it, are we able to respond to it?

God is present in the midst of oppression, keeping the spirit of hope alive, as we witnessed in South Africa. The years of silent and sometimes noisy rebellion there were met with greater repression until a breakthrough came. Sometimes this happens when everyone becomes so weary of the on-going violence that, even to the most hardened, the insanity of the situation becomes apparent. And sometimes it takes a charismatic leader, even the death of such a person, to bring about a pause in the spiral of violence.

As Getty walks out of the globe unscathed, I reflect on those survivors of violence, whether it be the holocaust survivors, or Sister Dianna Ortiz, a victim of torture in Guatemala, who have come out of the maelstrom of violence, not unscathed, but with the resilience of the human spirit, and are able to move on. They know the human capacity for both good and evil, and can see that just as the spiral of violence can become greater, it also spins off survivors, even victors, persons who believe that "grace is stronger than sin."

Sr. Adela Gross, OSF is a member of the staff of the United States Catholic Conference in Washington, DC. She works in pastoral care to migrants. She was previously director of the U.S. Catholic Mission Association.

Click here to view the Article by Bob Bossie or here to view the Article by Dolores Lytle.