Sometimes when I think about about something that a person has done deliberately that is truly awful, I get a feeling of intense sadness.
I felt it when my stepson emailed me after my wife died to say that he no longer wanted anything to do with me. I felt it when I read about animal abuse. I felt it when I recall bullies from my youth. I felt it when I thought about the Wuhan lab possibly causing the Covid pandemic. I felt it when I learned about the Holocaust, the Inquisition, slavery and torture. I felt it when I found out that the Catholic Church covered up for decades of sexual abuse.
Being a part of society means that there will be times when people intentionally others. There will be times when they do so unintentionally. This is part of the “is-ness” of life. I accept that.
Most of the time, these harms are trivial.
But, on rare occasions the harm seems ineffable and I feel a deep sense of grief envelop me. In my head, I can only ask,
“How could you?”
There is no answer.