Wow. In the few weeks since I posted last (after the Orlando shootings), it feels like the whole world has gone mad. Two more shootings of black men here in the US, followed by the shootings of police officers following a Black Lives Matter march, and just a few hours ago, yet another attack in France.

It really does feel like the whole world has tipped over the edge, and is now falling into the “there be dragons” unknown from the old flat earth maps. Objectively, when looked at through the cold lens of absolute numbers, the world of 2016 is (believe it or not) rather peaceful compared to other times in history. 100 years ago, World War I raged, with battles that routinely claimed tens of thousands of lives in a single day. World War II saw even worse carnage by the time it was all over. So, perspective…

The difference now is that the internet and social media in particular amplify the worst of humanity. This is the dark side of our technology. Extremists and purveyors of hate can easily find each other and organize.

An attack that kills a few dozen amplifies fear around the world. This is not to minimize the loss of those families involved, but consider this: if ISIS really was powerful enough to launch a full-scale war on the order of either World War, don’t you think they would have done it already?? But they can’t, because so few actually buy into the ideology. So, they claim small-scale attacks here and there, carried out by lone wolves, for the purpose of instilling fear and making us hate our neighbors.

Even as bad as racism in America is now, objectively things have improved. Compared to the overt institutional racism of the past, we have made progress. We have a long way to go, but we’ve come a long way too, and we shouldn’t forget that.

So what’s our response? There is a temptation, voiced in some quarters by a certain candidate who must not be named, to build walls, deport masses, shut the borders, lock them all up, beat them all up, eye for an eye, demonize those who don’t look like us, believe like us. More guns. More guns.

Nope.

Nope nope nope.

Nope.

A while back, the phrase “random acts of kindness” was popular. It was a great start, but I’d like to take it a step further, to what I’m calling “Ongoing Active Kindness.” Call it OAK. Ongoing Active Kindness means we reach out of our comfort zone to those different from us, with kindness. From now on. Without end. I don’t mean sticky-sweet sugarcoated polite “niceness.”  I mean genuine, from-the-heart, we-are-all-human-together kindness. Messy kindness. Kindness that takes risks, and keeps on taking risks. Kindness as spiritual practice.

The Dalai Lama once said, “my simple religion is kindness.”

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Forget doctrine. Forget creeds or rules or my god is better than your god nonsense. Forget hateful theology that justified and continues to justify atrocity. Forget it all.

Hold only to kindness.

Ongoing Active Kindness. OAK

Plant an acorn, people.

Go. Do that. And keep on doing it.

No matter what.