Living Spiritual Rhythms–February 25

Spinoza, I believe, says something like (sorry I don’t recall where), to harm is to diminish the power of someone else’s action. This sounds good, as it touches our sensitivities for and leans in the direction of a victim who is being deprived, yet I’d wager things are more complex than this. Nuance is required. That is, much depends on “who” the someone else is and what action is going to be perpetrated. If the answer is that this person is potentially a victimizer and the action is out to victimize, then “supposed” harm in diminished power may translate into “actual” wisdom. Whether this turns out to be the case or not, it shows us that neither harm nor wisdom can be grounded in themselves, but each orientation has to plunge deeper down into a trust and suspicion dialogue, where responsible assessment of the other can take place and provide a viable linkage to the embrace of a healthy perspective of self.