Most of us, thankfully, have never faced the kind of violence that many people in the world and throughout the ages have experienced firsthand.  Unless we are careful, we can slip into believing that the world is a nice place full of nice people and that we are among the nicest.  But the world is actually a mix of virtue and violence, and so are we.  Until we choose to see this, we will remain blind to people’s pain, to our need, and to God’s violent remedy on a cross.