I was going to begin with the simple statement that the way of nonviolence is an endless journey. I like the sound of a journey. It means we are moving - we are moving from this place to another place - even if the movement simply happens in our hearts. Having said that, for nonviolence to become a part of the center of our lives - our hearts - is to enter an amazing journey that not many are able to engage. The mere journey that transforms our hearts is one that does not merely change our core or center - it makes for a new way to journey into and through the days of our lives.
I was also a bit skittish about using the word endless to describe this journey. That can sound as though it is a journey that is really not one we should enter. If it is endless - it is within all of time. It can mean that there are no breaks - no opportunity for retreating. And yet, endless can also carry the notion of utter availability. It becomes that which is at hand and that which is yet to be and it offers to expand our understanding of all that is and all that could be. The way of nonviolence is available even as I turn to the ways of violence in words or actions or thoughts. Endless need not sound tedious. Endless can be a soothing word - a blessed assurance. Endless is like that parent who waits for the long lost son to come home and the older brother to come into the house without bitterness and anger. Endless for me is the Reign of God that is no longer distant or in another time or place. Endless takes in my present wandering life an gives direction that has the power to stir up hopefulness.
I always see nonviolence as a way that one can move within our world. It is quite contrary to that which comes so naturally to all of us. That is why so many people remind us to pray for peace - endlessly. Peace comes as nonviolence erupts into the everyday patterns of life. Prayerfulness becomes the way we focus - the way we catch ourselves in the act of having our lives participate in the many faces of violence of the world. I like to picture this notion of prayerfulness as a stream of water that flows into and through us. In other words, it need not be part of a movement outside of our everyday experience. I would suggest that prayerfulness is a present reality much like the beating of our hearts that we most often do not even consider - or the breath we take without making it something we must control. The way of nonviolence is always present and at hand. A vital part of this journey we are invited to enter as our own means we keep in mind - whose we are. Keep in mind the breath of life that is the breath we all share. The way of nonviolence is one in which I recognize that the breath that keeps me alive was once your breath - or the breath of my enemy - or the breath of those I have not known. We endlessly take in that which is not us - yet becomes us.
Most frustrating for me is when I attempt to turn to other ways of living into the way of nonviolence. It never works. There is either the way of nonviolence - the way of God's Reign as I call it - or - there is the way of fear - anxiety - blame - jealousy - envy.... hell among us. Within this basic frustration is why I liked the expression saint-sinner that is used to describe us. I don't like it when it is used as an excuse to back away from the journey of nonviolence - the ways we settle for what is because it falls in line with our character. Instead, I like it as a tool to remind me to keep in mind that which is not at hand. Yes, I let fear reign - I scapegoat - I allow anxiety to turn you into an enemy, but I also have this creative breath that will always be the power of an amazing grace that can becomes me and changes how I entertain your presence.
The way of nonviolence is an endless journey and yet it is never a journey we take on our own. It is always a communal adventure. It is embraced as we take part in the miracle of dialogue. For too often, we see ourselves as nonviolent people when in reality others are able to spot the violence in our words and actions. We need the eyes and ears of others to help us lean into the way of nonviolence. We are endlessly a people meant to hold hands and walk together into the endless creativity of God's peaceable Reign where - joy abides.
TRRR
No comments:
Post a Comment