A Hanging in Mississippi this afternoon - posted with heavy heart and worry

[pangaia]

203. It is an uncontrolled, emotional

knee-jerk reaction. Just like becoming instantly angry when called a name and acting on it.

THIS is one great lesson Obama has been teaching for the last 6 years...
The child reacts in this type of situation unconsciously. An intellectually and emotionally mature adult does not. (If only we could all be intellectually and emotionally mature adults all that time.)

The emotions react the fastest.
The body reacts a little slower and the mind is the slowest.

This is why if driving down the street and a child suddenly runs in front of your car, you do NOT want to respond first with your mind or the child will be dead. The emotion acts first, FEAR, then the body, in terms of slamming on the break.

If you are watching the NCAA playoffs, men's or women's, you can very clearly see this in action. FAST BREAK...emotion hits in instantly,,faster than one even knows it, but then the body just takes over. Guy runs the floor, which way, left, right, fake..it is all instinctive,, no thought. You can SEE when a player is thinking too much instead of just seeing the floor.

BUT, for this situation, of a man hanging from a tree, I believe we should not just let the emotions take over and control what we should be doing with our minds. Not at all easy,, considering history AND our own conditioning.

I lived in Memphis in the late 1960s. I was there when Dr, King was killed. I am white. I was dating a black woman. We were both in our 20s. Some uncomfortable things happened to us. One very horrible thing happened.. to us, but mostly to her. That doesn't mean I know more than anybody else. But it does mean that I am not naive.