Thursday 20 March 2008

On the Maundy Thursday when the command to "love one another" is our focus, here is another look at the life of non-violence by Gandhi.

Belief in non-violence is based on the assumption that human nature in its essence is one and therefore unfailingly responds to the advances of love...The non-violence technique does not depend for its success on the goodwill of the dictators, for a non-violent resister depends on the unfailing assistance of God which sustains him throughout difficulties which would other wise be considered insurmountable.
Jesus live and died in vain if He did not teach us to regulate the whole of life by the eternal law of love.

The command to love one another as Jesus said he loved his followers is one that is meant to change life - completely. It is to be the center of who we are in the sense that we agree with Gandhi's notion that "human nature in its essence is one and therefore unfailingly responds to the advances of love." Unfortunately, if that is the essence of our nature, the power of violence and the pull of self-centeredness is one that is so seductive, we dare not listen to the voice of love...even when we see it raised up from the dead. And yet, the ones whose center of life is grounded in this love, there are many options within our lives even when it appears that violence must be our next step. This is no way of cowards. This is why I so often wonder about myself and if this way of non-violence or Jesus-love is a way I can follow completely. I can so easily be frightened and give into a way that lives within the various forms of a violent culture. This is why we call out in the Prayer of Thanksgiving at the Eucharist: "Come, Lord, Jesus" and "Come, Holy Spirit." In the midst of the love of Christ, we need to see that we can live within that love and our God will be there with us.

Connection: Tonight, in the washing of feet and the sharing of the meal, be open to this strange way of living within our world.

Lord of New Life, we long for the peace of the whole world and a love that is the power to bring reconciliation and forgiveness and peace among us. Come, Holy Spirit, grasp us and be our breath of life. Amen.