In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

If the people closest to you stood idle while you went through a difficult experience, would you call them friends?

If the experience seemed like Groundhog Day, where events were uncannily repetitive, would you be surprised if those friends begin to wonder whether what you were going through was some how your doing? Even if the truth was that you we’re only on the receiving end of a bad situation?

If the situation where reversed, how would you make sure you were there for that friend, that you stood by them, and even stood up for them if that was what was required?

A striking theme of my week has been the issue of how our society is failing to nurture enough people,  men in particular, who are capable of contributing to a safe world for the others around them. In what is scary truth, the majority of violence and abuse occurs in the context of men perpetrating against other men, woman, girls, and boys.

Have you ever stopped to think why this is?

Does it not seem shocking?

Or is that what we expect?

…Is that what we accept?

For more on this topic, here’s a worthy discussion by way of TEDx: Violence + Silence.