Waging Non-Violence and Learning War No More!
The Compelling Call to be Peacemakers
Original Publication: 9 September 2021 (Wordpress)| Amended for republication: 08 May 2023
A Hiroshima grandmother’s plea to Americans
I was very moved when I read this article by long-time peace activist, Christian, and author, John
Dear: “A Hiroshima grandmother’s plea to Americans”, to stop building nuclear bombs.
Go to this link to read the
article: https://wagingnonviolence.org/2021/08/hiroshima-grandmother-plea-nuclear-weapons/
Two quotes from the article:
“Please tell the Americans,” she whispered, “They shouldn’t keep building bombs and preparing to do this to more people.” – Hiroshima grandmother
“The nuclear bomb is the most anti-democratic, anti-national, anti-human, outright evil thing that humans have ever made…If you are religious, then remember that this bomb is humanity’s greatest challenge to God…” – Arundahti Roy
The radical non-violence of Jesus Christ
I was drawn to the article, after listening to John Dear speak to host Karen Pascall, Executive Director of the Henri Nouwen Society. He is passionate about the radical and revolutionary “non-violence” message of Jesus Christ, most powerfully captured in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 -7; see also Luke 6), and so influential in the lives and non-violent activism of Mohandis Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
Dear has reflected on and written much on radical peace-making over several decades; he has participated in hundreds of non-violent actions and suffered arrests and imprisonments numerous times. Dear emphasises that “war making is the ultimate spiritual lie,” and there is absolutely no place and justification for war (not even a ‘just war’) in the message of Jesus! He encourages us to make a regular practice of reading and reflecting on and learning to live out the Sermon on the Mount. Apparently, Gandhi (though a Hindu) had regular morning and evening meditations in which he included readings from and reflections on the Sermon on the Mount for 45 years of his life!
Personal experiences of Non-Violent Direct Action
I was introduced to and became a non-violent direct action (NVDA) activist and teacher of NVDA in the 1980s, as a way of protest and challenge to the bastions of Apartheid.
While less directly involved in such actions in recent years, I am still drawn back to its essential gifts for re-imagining, and for empowering and enabling radical transformation in our world, not just in areas of peace-making and ending wars, but also in contributions to the protection of Mother Earth and our environment.
Non-violence does not come easily to me. I am a person prone to anger and rage, even hate and cursing. I can be easily triggered, especially if the world values and causes I believe in are under attack or compromised by Powers intent on trampling on the rights and dignity of other human beings. I become loud and intense with emotion when I see the destruction and pollution of our local and global environment, which contribute to increasing toxicity of our air, soils, rivers and oceans. I become violent in my thoughts, emotions, and words when I see how Nature is dominated, pillaged, and raped by profiteering greed. I am alarmed and angered when I listen to experts and observe how the ‘pandemics’ we experience (and will continue to experience for years to come) are so strongly linked to our life-styles of disharmony with and disconnection from Nature and Mother Earth.
What about you?
Heeding the Call to Waging Non-Violent Direct Action
How do we heed the urgent call and commit to the daily practices of “Waging Non-Violence” and of ‘War/Violence No More!’ How do we become human-beings who practice living in non-violent ways – to ourselves, to others, and to all Creation?
I confess to being but an infant in this practice, though I am choosing to learn, to unlearn, and relearn the empowering and revolutionary power of non-violent direct action. And I am coming to accept that this kind of NVDA is borne in the womb of True Love which is so powerfully embodied and lived out in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and in the lives of those who dared to imitate him through the centuries.
Now I know
I’m tired of all the hate,
I know, I’ve carried it oft too much myself at times,
My soul, my mind and my heart,
Shrinking within its strangling grasp,
Shadowed strains too often shutting out the light;
The weight of darkness upon my shoulders,
Has been a weight too heavy and too onerous to bear,
These dark flows within have run into detours,
Where the human being and life itself has died,
When escape and true freedom seemed so cold and illusory;
Yet, the inner spark ever present within persists,
Phoenix-like in proud resilience she rises,
Laughing out loud against the consuming pain,
True human being scoffs at the dismal downward spiral,
Knowing deep within that Life is the gift and for the living!
Now, I’m awakening to the true Love,
Now, I know, with ageless lessons learnt along the winding path,
That no darkness can ever, ever extinguish the Light!
This being human is Divinity’s matchless, mysterious choice,
My days, my years, my life, is that inwhich I ultimately dare rejoice!
(c) Roger Arendse 20190117
This is Love!
The Agape that fills the world,
The world so loved;
So passionately and compassionately held,
The infinite closeness,
The immeasurable embrace,
The glorious, gentle expansiveness,
Of Divinity’s presence,
And the promise,
That All is well,
All is loved!
This is Love!
The Agape that fills the world,
The world so loved;
So unconditionally forgiven and touched,
These struggles of the ordinary,
These sufferings of the wounded
These shaky, slipping steps,
These songs of the imperfect,
All accepted in Divinity’s grace,
And the reassuring faith,
That All is well,
All is loved!
This is Love!
The Agape that fills the world,
The world so loved
So broken open, released and free,
The transformed mind,
The illuminated heart,
The conscious, courageous will,
Surrendered to Divinity’s Way,
And the hope,
That All is well,
All is Loved!
© Roger Arendse 20180417
Reflection Exercise:
What, if anything, do you find appealing in the radical non-violent message of Jesus Christ? And what may be its significance for our times?
How important is radical non-violent direct action for taking on the many injustices in our world today?
What experiences do you have of non-violent direct action?
What are the things that make for true peace in our warmongering world at this time?
As always, I invite you to share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences on this topic. And kindly consider sharing this post with others who you feel could benefit.
Blessings!