Here is another reality check in regard to the practice of non-violence.
The virtues of mercy, non-violence, love and truth in any (person) can be truly tested only when they are pitted against ruthlessness, violence, hate and untruth.
In other words, it all must be alive among us out in the everyday world in which we find ourselves. Non-violence cannot be a subject we simply study. We must be the subjects of non-violent action even as the day does not want to tolerate non-violence. Remember that this does not mean we sit back and do nothing. Quite the contrary. We are invited to speak up and act so that the powers of the day that can be ruthless, violent, hate filled, and false will have to be heard alongside the voices that press for non-violence, patience, reconciliation, truthfulness, and love. I am constantly reminded of how easy it is to slip and stumble in the face of the powers of this world. I don't know how it happens with you, but with me it is often in the midst of my silence...a silence that is often ruled by fear. Tough to overcome...but how does the song go, We shall overcome.
Connection: Maybe we need good songs to set us along the way through the events of this day. Songs that remind us of whose we are and how we are in relation to others.
Come, sing your song of deliverance, O God, and pull us out of our fear into the great adventure of faithfulness that builds communities of hope and justice and peace. Amen.
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