The cascading emotional damage resulting from homicides.

When a violent act occurs, the emotional devastation that results cascades out in all directions, like lava froma volcano, devastating everything in its path, harming not only the victim's family, but also the family of the perpatrator.

I have just been touched by such a cascade myself, though indirectly.

Because of a new initiative that Interfaith Paths to Peace plans to undertake with a local church, we plan to monitor and ritually mourn each homicide that happens in the Louisville metro area this year. On Sunday I learned that, sadly, Louisville's first homicide of 2010 had happened on on New Years Day. The victim was a woman in her twenties who was allegedly stabbed to death by her former boyfriend , a man who also happens to be the father of her infant child. The perpatrator also stabbed and critically wounded a man who happened to be with the young woman at the time of the crime.

Yesterday, I learned that the homicide victim is the niece of a friend of mine. When I heard that, I felt an extra twinge of pain and grief that this unnecessary violence had also emotionally wounded people that I hold dear.

As we consider the emotional cost of the violence in our community, we need to remember that the pain resulting from any violent act spreads in ever-increaing circles. Damaged forever are the friends and relatives of the victim. Also ruined are the family and friends of the troubled man who supposedly comitted this horrific crime. As I write, I am sure that phones are ringing and emails arriving in inboxes telling everyone who knew the victim and the perpatrator about the crime. More and more people over the days to come will share the sorrow.

There is little that we can do to ease this pain. There is, however work that we should all engage in to eliminate violence in our community and in our homes. I was reminded just this morning that even though the crime rate in Louisville has decreased over the last year, the rate of domestic violence has either remained the same or increased.

There are two groups in our city that are working diligently to help school age young people and the adults who work with them gain the skills that will enable them to solve serious differences with other people nonviolently. These are the Peace Education Program (http://www.peaceeducationprogram.org/ ) led by Eileen Blanton, and the SPAVA Program (http://www.spava.us/ ) pioneered by Dr. Timir Banerjee. Check out their web sites and learn what they do.

I just wish we could find a way to get the same information about non-violent conflict resolution to adults who seem to think that the best way to express their anger is with their fists, or with guns or with knives or with...