Article June 5, 2017 Issue

Strengthening the affections needed for healing

Curtis Wahlberg

Maybe at work, maybe at school. Or at church, in politics, on the internet. Mean or critical attitudes can seem constant and unavoidable.

A feature in Time magazine had this arresting title: “The Age of Trolls: Why the web got darker, meaner and more threatening—and how this is crossing into the real world” (August 29, 2016). “Troll” is the term for people who fish on the internet for ways to provoke arguments and dissension. According to one observer, “Trolls don’t hate people as much as they love the game of hating people.” Interestingly, a professed troll said, “The trolls are the only ones telling the truth.”

However, there’s no value in being caustic. In fact, hateful comments reveal intense and troubled feelings, perceptions that our world is beset by conflicting minds or forces. Or that the needs or actions of others jeopardize one’s own well-being. Or that the limits of matter determine our lives. Actions growing from these beliefs are built on fear and egotism—not on the graces of the divine Spirit, God, which bring the healing so many of us need.

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Strengthening the affections needed for healing

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