Category: nonviolence

On turning from rage

Whew, that was close! I almost let my fury explode Friday afternoon when I saw a news story that the president has asked the manufacturers of the highest-tech weaponry to quadruple their production. I was ready to rage about politicians who talk about peace and inevitably seem to make unholy alliances with the good old military-industrial complex.

Fortunately, my Friday exploration of Scripture just happened to have fallen onto a passage from Psalms, specifically Psalms 37:8:

“Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper — it only leads to harm.”

(New Living Translation)

Or, more conventionally:

“Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret — it leads only to evil.”

(New International Version)

I take from this that the word NIV translates as “fret” can also be translated as “lose your temper,” which enhances my understanding of the passage. On the other hand, “harm” and “evil” are not the same thing, and I wonder if the NLT is watering down the meaning.

The psalm begins (in my NIV), “Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong, for like the grass they will soon wither; like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart …”

And so I’m not gong to fret, or lose my temper, because once again a political animal has disappointed me. There is more than enough rage in the world these days.

All that is in my power is to take a deep breath, remind myself that peace is an internal thing, and that if enough of us decide to stop raging, love God and love our neighbors, someday — perhaps not in the near future or even in my lifetime, but someday — there will be peace.

Same as the old boss after all

“How can you write about Neil Sedaka and being silly when there’s a war going on?” I heard the voice from a little corner of my consciousness, but the death of Neil Sedaka was on my mind Saturday, so I wrote about him for Sunday, and Mary and I were silly on Sunday, and I preferred to write about that for Monday.

I have little to add regarding the latest war against Iran anyway. The great battle in this world is not left versus right, but the state versus the individual. The left favors one version of an all-powerful state, and the right favors another version, but neither side is particularly interested in protecting individual rights.

And war is the state’s favorite tool. The left is criticizing the right-handed president’s war actions, but it had no problem when a left-handed president took similar actions. This president has said a lot of pretty things about ending wars, but in the end it’s another case of “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

As a result I have little to say about the war against Iran. War is a function of the state, and I have no interest in the state except to find ways to reduce its size and power. Peace, on the other hand, takes concerted efforts by individuals, one individual at a time.

And so I offer, once again, my Declaration of Peace, from this individual to each individual I meet.

A Declaration of Peace

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to step back and ask, “What in the world are we doing?” and consider a different approach, it behooves us to explain what in the world we are doing, and why.

These truths ought to be self-evident — that all humans are created equal, endowed by our Creator with rights that are certain and unalienable, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — but then governments are created to tinker with those rights, to abridge those rights, and eventually to trample those rights.

Ostensibly governments are created to do those things that individuals cannot do, but there are many acts that individuals will not do and should not do, and they are no less heinous when committed in the name of government, and among these are theft, extortion, blackmail, and murder.

As a free and independent human, therefore, I declare that I am at peace with my fellow humans and that I will not initiate violence against them. This I pledge by my life, my fortune (such as it is) and my sacred honor, so help me God.

In search of kindness

The blogger who goes by the name Toirdhealbheach Beucail posted McLaren’s thought on Sunday. There’s a lot of hammering going on in this world these days, and not many people seem interested in melting hard hearts.

There’s an old saying, “If all you have is a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail.”

The McLaren quote gave me a new perspective on the old folk song “If I Had A Hammer.’ In the final verse the singer reveals he does have a hammer, and it’s “the hammer of justice.”

There are a number of ways to deliver justice with a hammer. You could build a courthouse. You could also build a gallows, or a guillotine. You could bash someone’s head in. In fact most ways of wielding a hammer in the name of justice are pretty violent. And violence may provide what you consider to be justice, but it’s not going to soften many hearts to win arguments, let alone the world.

The world has plenty of hammers. It’s in desperate need of kindness.

Refuge in the silly

Voices are especially loud of late, and it’s hard to make sense of it all, and so I have punted several times this week. One of the plaques on my wall says, “Be silly sometimes,” and when it’s hard to make sense of it all, maybe it’s a good idea to take a break and indulge in some nonsense.

The nonsense can be a relief from all the news about people who have taken leave of their senses. I sometimes despair whether they will eventually come to their senses — or I worry that they have not lost their minds, as it certainly appears, but prefer living in chaos filled with rage and hatred.

And so I take refuge in nonsense, and I pick up my guitar and sing songs of love, peace, and on Sunday mornings faith. I find comfort in knowing love still has a place on this planet, peace still beckons reasonable people, and a supernatural power is somehow still in control.

I’m just one man with one voice crying in the wilderness, but if I’m crying out in love, I’ve done all I possibly can.

Somewhere in space

© Netfalls | Dreamstime.com

Somewhere in space is a planet
full of peaceful beings —
they are boring in our sight
because they live in peace
with one another.

Our stories are about conflict
and the clash of ideas and cultures —
Not much space for peace in our space.
I mean, what kind of fight could you have
when everyone is willing to
live and let live?

It makes you just
want to punch someone in the face,
except that’s no way to live in peace.

On living the fruit

My pastor friend gave me a card with the fruits of the Spirit from thechristianpostercompany.com, which is going to find a prominent place in my household. I think I may need a little practice on some of them, especially patience and self-control.

My frequent prayer is, “Lord grant me patience, I need it NOW.” It’s hard to wait — some things just take time and persistence before what needs to happen is going to happen.

And then there’s self-control. I need to have the patience to follow through and to know that if I persist, I will lose the weight I need to lose for the sake of my health and my aging knees. But to do that, I need to master my self-control, too. 

It’s been some time now since I resolved to write more about the fruit of the Spirit and made “Love our neighbors and everyone is a neighbor” the theme of this website, and yet frequently as I ponder what to write in this space, my mind is distracted by current events. 

I have often quoted Dave Mason’s wonderful song “We Just Disagree” (written by Jim Krueger, who lived not far from here) — “There ain’t no good guys, there ain’t no bad guys, there’s only you and me and we just disagree.” The lyrics are about a personal relationship, but the thought also works in a larger context.

Our differences are shaped by our perceptions of the world, and what alarms me, you may see as proper and right. As we try to understand each other, we find common ground and eventual agreement, even if it’s to agree we’re going to disagree on the less important stuff.

More and more lately, it seems people are not willing to try to understand and simply conclude that there ARE bad guys, and the bad guys are all the people who disagree with them. Some are even willing to commit violence against the perceived bad guys. Even more frustrating is a willingness to overlook the behavior they supposedly hate when it’s committed by people they agree with.

When I start to get fearful or even angry about this trend, I try to step back and remember that bad guys — evil people — actually do exist, but they’re the people who have a vested interest in stirring up hatred among everyday folks who otherwise could easily find reasons to love one another. If “Blessed are the peacemakers,” then surely the opposite is true and there’s a special place in hell for those who seek to spread hatred and dissension.

My only recourse is to do my best to influence the only behavior I can control — mine. And now I’m back to working on my self-control. I can’t help it if you hate people who believe as I do, but at least I can respond to your rage with love, joy, peace, patience and all the rest. Eventually, one hopes and prays, your rage will be spent and, one hopes and prays, you won’t have killed me in the process.

I do know that responding in kind will not work. A violent revolution only replaces one violent regime with another. Tackling this mess non-violently will take much more time, and one despairs of finding peace even in my lifetime, but it beats meeting the ongoing rage with more rage, and peace is a much healthier state of mind.

A safe place

They were human voices, but they were howling — howling in anger, howling in anger, howling with outrage, howling in pain. The man listened to the howling and sighed.

“So much feeling,” he said. “So much distress. I want to bring them to a safer place.”

One of the howlers overheard and stalked over to the man, face to face.

“A safe place! Safe from all of this chaos?!” the howler mocked. “Where is this so-called safe place?”

The man smiled slightly and patted his chest over his heart.

“There can always be peace here, if nowhere else,” said the man. “When you get to this place, the chaos may still exist, but you will have hope.”

“Hope?” The howl was even more derisive. “There can be no hope as long as those people —”

“Which people?” asked the man. “That guy there? The woman at the curb? The child looking on, looking scared? Which of them is those people? I’m curious.”

“The ones who are causing the problem!”

“I think the real problem is that you see ‘those people’ instead of the humans in front of you.”

“Humans?! Them!?”

“Didn’t you notice?”

“Maybe, maybe not, but they started it! They’re the same!”

“Really? They’re the same?” the man said. “Now you’re starting to understand.”