Thursday 3 April 2008

This will sound a bit like Jesus...maybe others.



To lay down one's life for what one considers to be right is the very core of satyagraha. (soul-force)

The sword of the satyagrahi is love, and the unshakable firmness that comes from it.

It is odd to even use the word sword in association with love. One brings about harm and destruction while the other (love) makes a bridge so that the separation that causes war and fighting will be undone. Then again, the sword or its many equivalents in battle is primary to warfare. In the same manner, love, is the primary instrument in acts of non-violence and it is the force from which change and action is to begin. It almost seems unbelievable that one can love an enemy so much that one would die for the well being of that enemy. That is a force beyond my imagination and yet there are so many who have been a part of this soul-force. One of the great powers of satyagraha is that it leaves a witness for those who are looking on. It gives all of us a look at a possible way of facing the dilemmas of the day with a whole host of alternative patterns of life. To be a witness to such love inspires that love in others.

Connection: After an event in the day that was less than non-violent, it would be a good practice to review the event and begin to see what the other options of action would have been if we were practicing soul-force.

Be our strength and resting place, O God, so that as we enter the many events and trials of this day we will find rest in your promise of new life. In that promise, we are able to enter the ways of non-violence for there is no need for us to over power anyone in order to make something of ourselves. Thanks be to you, O God. Amen.

Wednesday 2 April 2008

The path of non-violence is one that demands constant attention. From Gandhi:



The first principle of non-violent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating.



I suppose we must become aware of what is humiliating for ourselves and for others. Some of that comes with the ability and willingness to be aware of others and how our actions touch the lives of others. From words to actions, we are to be constantly on guard. That doesn't mean we cannot speak or cannot act without fear of harming another. Rather, I think it means that we must have a greater view of the world than our own short-sightedness or self-centeredness. Maybe one way of not cooperating with everything humiliating is to be a humble presence. By that, I mean, one who is listening and interacting with others so that we come to some understanding of the needs and conditions of those around us. As we act within this framework, it would seem we would come to see when others are being stepped on and put down and humiliated within our presence. We do not have to participate in such activities. We can speak up and we can even serve as one who brings the consequences of our actions to light so that everyone will see how quickly people are humiliated. To be humiliated is a dreadful place to be...maybe that is why people are quick to humiliate enemies and those with whom we disagree.



Connection: I hate it when I look in the mirror and realize that my actions and words have caused someone to be humilated. In those moments, that which I would usually call evil...becomes me. Not a pretty sight in any day.



Lord of All Truthfulness, keep us in the way of your peace. Remind us to build up those around us and not use our time to tear them down. It is too easy to act violently toward others. We long for the power of your Spirit to guide us when we so easily are side-tracked from you peace. Amen.

Tuesday 1 April 2008

This almost sounds like an April Fool's Day statement.



In non-violence the masses have a weapon which enables a child, a woman, or even a decripit old man to resist the mightiest government successfully. If your spirit is strong, mere lack of physical strength ceases to be a handicap.



Maybe it is the April Fools thing that has my imagination going off on this one...but imagine this. What if the people of Iraq were united under the banner of such a soul force. What would we, the most powerful force in the world, do?!? It is hard to imagine such a movement in a place of so much division. And yet, what if? How would we face up to such a force? What if those many people rebelled in an non-violent manner in order to secure the resources and wealth of their land for themselves? Would we be like the British in India and find that we are acting quite contrary to the values of life we claim to hold among us? The spirit of a people is visible in the humblest acts. In acts that are set firmly on a foundation of hope that is able to propel the most vulnerable and weakest ones into acts of resistance and love and hope.



Connection: The mere lack of physical strength ceasese to be a handicap....so to would be all the other forms of strength that we use to lord over others. To re-view our notions of strength could be the way we find honor in other ways of being fully human - ways we once may have considered weak or lame.



Precious Lord, we are caught up in the middle of your blessed Reign and yet we so often do not find ourselves following along your way of peace and justice and love for all. We need to be moved by you into the domain you have claimed for us for new life. Amen.

Monday 31 March 2008

I found this to be an alarming piece by Gandhi. By alarming, I suppose it is because I am not quite able to get my mind around it.



To me it is a self-evident truth that if freedom is to be shared equally by all - even physically the weakest, the lame... - they must be able to contribute an equal share in its defense. How that can be possible when reliance is place on armaments, my plebeian mind fails to understand. I therefore swear and shall continue to swear by non-violence, i.e., by satyagraha. or soul force. In it physical incapacity is no handicap, and even a frail woman or a child can pit herself or himself on equal terms against a giant armed with the most powerful weapons.



Obviously, the weakest and the lame cannot do much against an oppressive power. And yet, their witness to something greater than this evil is the greatest power of life. No, a weakest cannot defeat the greater power. That is not the issue here. Rather, the witness for something other than oppression can be lifted up by the weakest and at that point, the "giant armed with the most powerful weapons" stands before a power that has, simply by stating its position, made the worth of the weakest one something that must be dealt with by the giant. At that point (of great risk), the weakest makes a stand that can be the end of him/her. But then again, the giant also risks by the actions s/he takes. Think back to the people walking over the Edmund Pettis bridge in Selma, Alabama ready to be met by the force of the giant of inequality during the civil rights movement in the U.S. Within the brutality of that meeting, the giant fell at the hands of those who asserted their worth even though they were considered the least...and less than that.



Connection: The ability to say "yes" or to say "no" is something that can come from any of our lives. That stand, can be one of great risk and yet it is one that simply needs the force of one's being making a statement for life.



Come, Holy Power of Peace, and call forth from all of us the power of your love that overcomes even the cold, stone tomb to bring new life to expression. Amen.

Friday 28 March 2008

Some the most simple statements by Gandhi seem to make so much sense and yet demand a whole life change.

A non-violent revolution is not a program of seizure of power. It is a program of transformation of relationships, ending in a peaceful transfer of power.

Sounds quite like Jesus speaking with his disciples about being servants rather than gaining power to lord over others. In this kind of revolution that Gandhi proposes here, the revolt...and what becomes revolting to those who have power and expect preferential treatment...is that all people will be honored and power will not be taken from anyone. Instead, the power of every one's being will be maintained...from those considered the least to those considered to be the greatest. There may be differences in our power of being and our skills and our abilities, but within the realm of a non-violent action, all have a place and each and every life is held to be sacred. This frees everyone to be servant...and with that...everyone will be served. This can be a frightening situation for those who have great power and like to use it for their own benefit. Then again, this can also be frightening for those who have had little power in the community and are now given the opportunity to join in the fullness of life within this transforming community.

Connection: As long as we continue to press for my way to be the way even if it means that others will be pushed down - even verbally - there is a brutality in our day that need not continue. Honoring the lives of others is a step toward resisting the temptation to live according to grasping power and begin living by power sharing.

You bless us, O God, with so many ways to experience the wealth of others. Too often, we try to use their gifts for our own good and ignore how their gifts, like ours, help to build up the whole people and maintain every one's welfare. Make us aware of how vital it is to listen and share and bring about a new form of power among us. Amen.

Thursday 27 March 2008

Here is an interesting piece by Gandhi as he looked back at his life.



I claim to be a votary of truth from my childhood. It was the most natural thing to me. My prayerful search gave me the revealing maxim "Truth is God" instead of the usual one, "God is truth." that maxim enable me to see God face to face as it were. I feel Him pervade every fiber of my being.



After reading this several times, one little light went on for me. If we say "God is truth," we must first come to an understanding of what God is. We need only look around at the overall variey of expressions of God and we will see just as many impressions of God. When we are all honest with ourselves, it would be my bet that all of our expressions of God - even those we hold so dear - are less than truth. The God of Christian Nationalism is not the God I would call God. The God of the Nazi Regime would not fit either. The God of some aspects of liberalism would also not fit the bill for me. When we are left to fashion who God is and then we claim that our God is truth, how do we enter into an honest and vulnerable dialogue with those other than us. It seems as though we would be very much tied to our God as the way of truth...and that would get in the way of real dialogue. But if we sit at the table and press on for truth without making it fit into the way we have shaped or the way we perceive our God, we may find ourselves in the presence of a real sense of the God who is more than "my" God or "our" God...but rather, God in the fullest.



Connection: We are called to come together with our guns ready for battle on behalf of what we consider God. We are always called together to faithfully contemplate what is truth and how that truth can be among us in the midst of the power of this day.



Open up our hearts, O God, that we may continue to be open to the ever-expanding way that you enable us to see what is the way of truth in this day. When our hearts are open, there is always the opportunity for new vision and hope. Amen.

Wednesday 26 March 2008

I'm always finding that Gandhi's reflections are ones that are so important for me that I am always trying to fit them into my language and life experience. Here's another example.



I claim to be a passionate seeker after the truth, which is but another name for God. In the course of that search the discovery of no-violence came to me. Its spread is my life mission. I have no interest in living except for the prosecution of that mission.



What a mission! I keep tossing around the idea of that journey of finding what is the truth and how that is what led Gandhi to the life of non-violence. Too often for me, I claim to be looking for the truth but often find myself settling for quite a bit less. When that takes place, I am quick to judge, quick to seek the down fall of the other, quick to settle for less than the whole truth. All of these options are acts of violence even when I try to convince myself that they are not hurting anyone. This mission is bold and, as we saw in Gandhi, dynamic...full of a power that transforms the world and brings something that has not been...into what is possible. It makes me wonder about what I make the mission of my life in the midst of this great and powerful and eternal love of God that is always available to me and ready to shape me again and again. If the good news is really as good as we say...how is it involved in shaping the mission of my life for the rest of this day...and beyond.



Connection: The smallest part of our day can and is a part of the dynamic mission of God's Reign flourishing among us.



Lord of the Resurrection, we are often held back - by ourselves. We claim the power of you living presence but then...forget about the living. Be our strength and encouragement. Amen.