In my experience, each of the great religions offers us particular insights that we may not encounter elsewhere. As I pack for my journey to India, I hope for new insights from encountering Hinduism and its vast panoply of deities at closer range. Could it be that these deities represent the myriad ways that the divine appears in the human world?

I wonder in particular about Vishnu, the creator, and Shiva, the destroyer, who seem such a striking pair of opposites. What especially interests me is that Shiva seems to be worshiped at least as much as other Hindu deities. The same goes for his consort Kali, the goddess of death, typically depicted grinning and dripping with the blood of her victims. Why worship gods of destruction along with the creator god?

Perhaps Shiva and Kali hold such exalted positions because they personify an essential aspect of the natural order: the way that so often, something must be destroyed in order for something new to arise. The obvious example is that leaves that drop to the ground in autumn become the mulch needed for the new growth of spring.

Shiva and Kali have come to mind in these past two days since the tragic shooting in Tucson. Like everyone, I'm appalled by the deaths and injuries, Having sat frightened at bedsides, I am feeling for the families and friends now praying that the injured will recover. Having lost people I loved, I am feeling for the families and friends who have lost their dear ones.

And I'm also beginning to feel hope, reading the many comments by people speaking of the possibility that this shocking incident could have the effect of drawing us together as Americans. In the end, having been reminded of the essential humanity we all share and the fragility of our lives, we can hope that we now may turn towards saner, gentler political discourse. Perhaps ultimately, something new and better will arise from the destruction of the past weekend, which might not have arisen otherwise.