Let Us Speak of Vengeance

It's easy to wish for it. It's too easy to take it. To ruin in return for ruin. Harm in return for harm, and then declare, "Now we are even!"

But are we even? She asked rhetorically and then answered with, "No." Even. Level. Balance. No, we are not even. We become less and less even, piling ever more vengeful rocks on one side of the scale and throwing everything further out of balance.

I used to avoid Thor. I work with a lot of Jotun and Jotun-adjacent entities, and saw him as an enemy to them. He fights them, so... So. So I missed why he fights. He fights to maintain balance - he's not some crazed murderer just randomly offing any Jotun he meets. He's not very bright, but he's not a fiend.

Recently, I sought him out. I didn't know why, really, it just seemed the thing to do, and so I did. Our conversations are not deep, but they are important. I go to him when I need balance. "Thor, help me to chip away what needs to leave to regain balance." My hammer is smaller, my arm less muscular, but my power is there. Sometimes I forget that, and the unnecessary builds up and seems insurmountable. Too solid to remove. "Thor, help me to..."

The thirst for vengeance often comes from a feeling of powerlessness. It could be from enduring a long-going pattern of blatant abuse, a series of small slights, or any number of experiences. "I'll show them!," is the cry of the injured. And, yes, you can show them. How, is the question. Vengeance is not the answer.

And, really, you need to show yourself. Show yourself the power you have. The best way to show yourself and them is by seeking and achieving balance. Then maintaining it.

There will always be people willing to pile their garbage on your scale. They want you unbalanced; it sucks to write that, because I would love to think the best of everyone, but that's not always safe. It also contributes to the imbalance. We need to see the garbage on our scales, and knock it off.

Here is a Black Hole - it's a visualization aid. Come with me, as we knock the garbage right into the center of it. It goes in. It cannot come back out.

Thanks, NASA, for this bitchen' photo.