Today's MOZEN: Learn to Love. Love to Learn. 10/25/2014

Words and photo by F LoBuono

It happened while I was watching television the other day. As is my custom, I started out with the news. I like to stay informed. Well, the more I watched, the more depressed I became. The news was worse than bad. It was horrendous. Murder, mayhem, and malfeasance was the order of the day. The great majority of the newscast was filled with stories of fear and loathing. Perhaps, I thought, switching channels to something more "light-hearted" might be less stressful. Channel surfing, I appemped to find something that might be both informative and entertaining. Wrong! What I got was an endless barrage of vapid, vacuous, vacant, vicarious crap. I have absolutely NO interested in what a lot of bearded, duck hunting morans or their significant others have to say. I have absolutely NO interest what ANY housewife, ANYWHERE in the country, has to say. And, I have absolutely NO interest in what ANY Karadashian at ANY time has to say!

OK. There's always the internet. I turned there. The first thing I encountered in doing so was a video of the Mozart Boob Twerk Girl, a heavily tattooed, fake-breasted blonde porn star named Sarah X. Mills bouncing those fake boobs to Mozart's "Eine kleine Nactmusik". She received 26 million page views. 26 million!!

I swear my jaw dropped and a thin tear fell from the corner of my eye. It was like the scene in "The Elephant Man" when the doctor sees him for the first time. The doctor, played by Anthony Hopkins, has heard of John Merrick, the so-called Elephant Man, and has come to observe him. When Merrick's deformaties are revealed to him for the first time, the doctor's jaw drops slightly and a tear falls from his eye. He is, obviously, overwhelmed by the shear scope of the human tragedy that has befallen this man. It's as if he is crying not only for Merrick, but for all of mankind. I think I know that feeling.

It left me thinking, why is this happening? Is society really on its way to ruin? What can we do to reverse this trend? The more I thought about it, the more I came to the same conclusion. We've forgotten the transforming power of love. Love is the most potent force on the planet. Perhaps, that's why we fear it. It is so powerful that it is difficult to understand completely and, so, we are reluctant to accept it in its fullest form - and that is to not hold back, to not have ANY reservation as to its restorative power. Because love is seen as a lofty "ideal" it can be more difficult to attain. It seems to be far easier to hate. Hate is impulsive. We flash to anger easily. Love is more sublime. It can take more effort. It sure is easier to slap someone back who has smacked us in the face then it is to turn the other cheek. But, what have you accomplished by striking back? More than likely you will be struck again and, subsequently, you will, in turn, strike back again - and again - and again. The cycle will never be broken. However, if you CAN turn the other cheek without fear, you will have transcended the cycle of violence. But, in order to be effective, you must do so without reservation. THIS is transcendence. THIS is what the Christ, the Buddha, and all the others preached. It's been said over and over again, for thousands of years, yet we will not hear. Only love can conquer hate.

The plethora of so-called "Reality Television" programs fall into the same category. It's easier (and cheaper) to produce these types of programs. They are also easier to watch. Thinking about what transpired during the program is not required. In fact, I think that it is usually discouraged. So, once again, we are encouraged to take the easy way out. We can live vicariously through others. We can envy their fame and "success" while avoiding the changes necessary in our own lives to be successful.

We've become lazy. We take the easy way out. It's easier to hate than it is to love. So, we hate rather than love. It's easier to watch than it is to do. So, we watch rather than do. But these challenges are not insurmountable. They just require commitment - a commitment to love and learn. We must learn to love and love to learn. When we can accomplish these two, simple things the world will, indeed, become a better place.