Tuesday 8 April 2008

Again some simple words about soul force - Gandhi.



The root of satyagraha (soul force) is prayer. A satyagrahi relies upon God for protection against the tyranny of brute force.



When the world around us is so set on the many ways of violence, the one voice we can turn to where we will hear the encouragement of non-violence is our God. This is as simple as the act of prayer. In prayer (and there are many ways to pray) we begin by listening. Unfortunately, we are so accustomed to listening to the voices of the world around us, it is not easy to choose to listen to the voice of truth. We are always called to listen to the voice of that which will not end...that which does not side against others...but rather presses for the welfare of all. Truth is often a harsh word to hear because it is so often contrary to what we want to hear! In prayer, we give ourselves the opportunity to look again at the shape of the path we walk and to take note as whether it is the way of truthfulness...or a bypass of that way. It may take others to help us discern the way we are going. Our prayers demand that we listen so that we can hear the difference between what becomes the brute force of any tyranny and the unbending way of truth that will not follow any sort of tyranny.



Connection: Sometimes prayer may begin with the acknowledgement of the voices of tyranny that attempt to run our own lives. As we identify those voices, we also begin to hear the voice of truth whispering a word of encouragement to us.



When we are confused and attempting to build our world as we would like it, O God, be the voice of truth that awakens us from sleep and empowers us to press on for the truth. It is so easy to settle on the voices of the world that meet our immediate needs and yet it is vital to our lives to hear the voice of your Reign. Amen.