GOODNESS GRACIOUS GREAT BALLS OF HURT!

Manslaughter and murder are both charges due to the death of another person.  The dividing line lies in the intent of the death.  Involuntary manslaughter (third degree murder in some states) does not have "malice aforethought".  In other words, it was not premeditated or reactionary with harm intended or implied.  It could though be the result of recklessness.  None-the-less, harm occurred and someone was killed.  Voluntary manslaughter and murder have varying degrees of culpability.  For instance, some lesser voluntary manslaughter charges are brought on by reactionary reasons - heat of passion, etc.. 

Suffice to say, no matter the reason or cause it still led to the same result - death. 

We sometimes don't mean to hurt another person.  We don't wake up in the morning, usually that is, with the thought that we are going to impale someone with our words or our actions.  We usually don't set out to hurt someone else - usually.  There are a symphony of reasons why we do though or how we deal with hurt. 

Sometimes we know we are being selfish and what we are saying or doing is of such great importance to us that we don't care how it affects someone else.  Through our selfish inattentiveness we hurt people.  We do though at times want to inflict pain and wound and, with intent to strike back to the hurt-or, we set about to do just that.  Other times, we are so hurt ourselves that it involuntarily slops onto others.  Hurt people hurt people.  We aren't fully cognizant of our pain sphere colliding into others.  Further still there are times we are viewing the situation solely from our lens - we can't see the forest for the trees.  We are just so consumed with the hurt caused by another (even justifiably so) that it skews our view and we pull inward.

It seems though the results are all the same - someone is hurt.  Hurt is not avoidable.  I wish it were.  The only thing that is avoidable is whether or not we will own our own culpability in hurting another or not.  The part we can control is the amount of hurt we choose to hold on to and our acknowledgement of how we hurt another.

In cases of manslaughter and murder there can be both a criminal and civil case.  A criminal case is based on how and if the law was broken, etc.  A civil case is based on what the lose is valued at.  Neither bring the dead person back.  Neither restore the value of what was lost through death or eliminate the hurt.

Hurt unfortunately cannot be totally eliminated from our lives.  I cannot totally protect myself from it, nor can I insulate others from me hurting them from time to time.  Hurt is a festering wound that needs to be cleansed from us before it takes deep hold and spreads.