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Violence of whatever denomination (physical, psychological, social, political, etc.) can be perpetrated agaisnt many: another person or group of people, a principle one holds dearly, nature and the environment, some aspect of self, etc. In any case a common result of an act of violence is our identity disappears and that my friends is the truth.
Thanks to Gigi for these reminders about violence as well:
The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender oneself to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation in violence. It destroys one's own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of one's own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful. (adapted from Thomas Merton)
"We live in the fullness of time. Every moment is God's own good time, His kairos. The whole thing boils down to giving ourselves in prayer a chance to realize that we have what we seek. We don't have to rush after it. It is there all the time, and if we give it time it will make itself known to us." - Thomas Merton