Today's word is 'Hate'.

We've been trying to teach our children not to use that word. Since 9/11, we're fairly certain they don't really know what it means.

We live now in a country where many people DO know what it means.

Hate is what drives someone to wish injury or death on someone else...someone they may not even know.

The events of 9/11 made hate very evident to, at least, a whole continent. But this is nothing new. Conditions of hate have existed for centuries in some places...like the Balkan countries, Northern Ireland, Cypress...

I discovered, while doing a bit of research yesterday, that one of the towns we drove through after our little road trip of a couple of weeks ago, had been the sight of a mass grave. The place was Mrkonic Grad. While we were there, I did notice that it looked harder hit than many areas we'd seen.

I have also been reading about centuries old churches and mosques that have been looted and/or destroyed along with many treasures, by one side or the other in this long conflict.

Perhaps most poignant are the graveyards that have been desecrated. Stones damaged, in some cases removed, and in some places the very graves themselves have been disturbed.

A grave without a stone means that the person will cease to exist, even in memory, in any human sense.

I cannot speculate on what might drive a person to such a level of hatred. I do know that the local school here in B-L is being supervised to make sure that old hatred is not being perpetuated by the teachers. This may help.

I find it particularly unbelievable that hate is often being taught and perpetrated under the guise of religion.

I cannot draw any conclusions here. It would seem that, like other sin, the tendency to hate is part of the human condition.

All I can dare to suggest for these situations (and they certainly exist outside of the Balkans) is humble prayer.