Channel Of Peace

Each of us can become a blessed channel of peace for the healing of Earth's wounds:

We can awaken from apathy and find creative,

non-violent ways to transform the abuses rampant in today's world.

 

Nan Merrill with Barbara Taylor
Peace Planet: Light for Our World

 

~~ @@ ~~

On the Journey Towards Living Nonviolently

From HenriNouwen.org

written by MADELINE BURGHART

We live each day surrounded by images of the horrors of our world.
Each week brings stories of a world weary with violence.
How can we not feel powerless in this?
How can we remain committed to a life of nonviolence when so many of the world's ways seem to point in the other direction?

My husband and I were asked to reflect on this dilemma at a recent Christian Peacemaker Teams workshop.
Through preparing for this workshop, we realized that living nonviolently involves two separate yet interconnected practices: an outer, visible witness to a life of peace; and the more hidden, attentive work of being present to the small details of our lives.
The outer practice is more noticeable, and is often more gratifying-who doesn't feel better after participating in a peace march?
And yet, as I learn over and over again, the greatest impact I can have in my tiny world is the way I choose to be present to others and to the world around me.
If, daily, I can speak to my children with absolute patience and listen to them as deeply as I would wish that listening from someone else; if, daily, I refrain from the easier tack of speaking ill of someone in order to appear stronger myself; if, daily, I make choices that cause less damage to this beautiful planet-then I know my journey of nonviolence continues, despite the invisibility of its workings.

In a world so broken, I need to believe that living peacefully, both in the grander picture and in the smallness of my own life, will make some difference to the work of "creating something new in the skin of the old."

MADELINE BURGHART has been connected to L'Arche for twelve years and is presently a house leader with L'Arche Toronto. She lives in the Toronto Catholic Worker community with her husband and three sons.

On the Journey Towards Living Nonviolently

From Henri Nouwen Society -- Weekly Reflection

On the Journey Towards Living Nonviolently

written by DANIEL CHO

As a child I became deeply involved in the martial arts after watching the revolutionary 1973 film Enter the Dragon, starring Bruce Lee.
In fact, my first few years of training took place in the basement of our church, and I loved every minute of it.
Some called me obsessed with the martial arts; I couldn't disagree.

When, as a teenager, I began to get serious about the Christian faith, I had an opportunity to become a bit philosophical about reconciling a commitment to love, peace and "turning the other cheek" with an activity involving fighting and violence.
Of course, violence describes both our inner fancies and the pernicious aggression against others.

I have found that my experience in martial arts never steered me towards violence; rather it led me to realize that the more I was willing to be in touch with my own violence - its emotional energy, causes, insecurities - the more I was able to "tame" both its interior experience and its expression.
Violence's familiarity can breed its discipline and lead to a reclaiming of that dimension of one's spirit and character.

For me, the point of resonance with Jesus' temptations is that he faced the destructive potential of his power, yet learned to claim it for God.
Likewise, every day I face potential for violence in word, behaviour, design and thought, yet I can learn to claim it for more authentic spiritual living.

I'm still an unapologetic martial arts film fanatic.

- DANIEL CHO is minister of Rexdale Presbyterian Church in Toronto and serves the national church as convener of the Life & Mission Agency. His martial arts training includes hapkido and aikido, and he holds a black belt in tae kwon do.

Yearning for Perfect Love

When we act out of loneliness our actions easily become violent.
The tragedy is that much violence comes from a demand for love.
When loneliness drives our search for love, kissing easily leads to biting, caressing to hitting, looking tenderly to looking suspiciously, listening to overhearing, and surrender to rape.
The human heart yearns for love: love without conditions, limitations, or restrictions.
But no human being is capable of offering such love, and each time we demand it we set ourselves on the road to violence.

How then can we live nonviolent lives?
We must start by realizing that our restless hearts, yearning for perfect love, can only find that love through communion with the One who created them.

-- Henri Nouwen