The Violence of Nature

In our culture, we say that we abhor violence, yet we are fascinated by it, Just look at our movies and TV shows. We are taught to value peace and have no qualms about blowing Nations to bits when they disagree with us. We are a curious people. Perhaps we are so fascinated with violence because we are taught that violence is completely unacceptable.
The World, in fact the entire Cosmos, is violent. Stars are fueled by thermonuclear reactions, creating unthinkable hear. Here and there, they explode. Galaxies literally eat each other. On the Earth, we witness volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Just yesterday, America was able to witness the full fury of a Category 4 hurricane. The aftermaths of all of these events are horrific. But, witnessing the event itself, the eruptions of amazing force is to witness, not necessarily beauty, but the sublime. You cannot avoid being made aware of the awesome mystery.
So, having established that our Creator uses violence in his Creation, what about on the human level? We can be a violent lot and there is no reason to deny that. What can we do about that?
First, di not deny it. That just gives the violent urge just gives it more power. Bow, that does not mean to give in to these urges. Redirect the energy. Use it to find new answers, and, if you cannot do that, go out and find a way to burn off that energy. Work out. Play a sport. If you physically cannot do so, then sublimate the energy by watching physically violent activities such as football and boxing. The arts are another way to give safe vent to our darker impulses.
War is, to state the obvious, is violent and, while I think war is a stupid activity, it is justified in cases of direct attack by another Country. On a personal level, self defense or the defense of others is just fine.
The most troubling aspect of violence are the acts of random violence. Random acts of any sort are hard for humans to deal with. We want a neatly ordered World. We;;. it is ordered, but it is not always neat.
To sum up this rambling mess of a post, violence is part of the World and part of human nature. Sp be it. All you can do us learn to control, to sublimate, violent impulses and keep, by strength of will, your violent responses to a minimum. Peace is wonderful, but it will never, be the only game in the Universe. Have a fine day and say a prayer for thise who went through yesterday's monster storm.