Non-Violence

“There are many causes I would die for. There is not a single cause I would kill for.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

 “Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong.”

― Mahatma Gandhi,

“At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

-- Jesus

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It was an interesting argument

But a one group was sure

So very sure

Jesus wants us to be armed and dangerous

Jesus wants us to have and use guns

After all, he told his disciples to buy a sword

And he overturned tables in the temple

Jesus has no problem with violence as a way of resolution

I get it!

I really do

Non violence is really hard

So hard that I am not sure I could embrace it

If a threat came my way

It seems so illogical

So weak

But there have been voices,

Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and yes, Jesus

Who have suggested that violence is not the way

And honestly, history should teach us

Although it is likely true

That the only thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history

It is true.  For centuries the followers of Yahweh had a vengeful God

A God who took sides, and got angry, and punished

That is the God they thought they knew

They had it all figured out

They had the system down

They had the rules, and the rules about the rules

And the rules about the rules about the rules

And the tried to walk the narrow line

And escape

The wrath of that angry God

They had no problem believing that if you were the “chose”

God was one your side.

And God would back you, as you used force against your enemies

Read the Psalms

Its all over the place, this lust for the destruction of the enemy

And I get it…

But then along came Jesus, and messed it all up

He said God is love (and showed it)

He said God works through the medium of grace not law (and showed it)

He suggested that everyone was welcome within God’s circle of love (and lived it)

He made it clear

That all our strategies

All those old strategies related to power

Were junk

Spiritual junk

That all our beliefs about what is good

And what works

Were ass backwards (think the Beatitudes)

Its hard stuff

And so the way is narrow

But the hardest part of all

Is Jesus insistence on non-violence as the ultimate solution

Oh yes, he did chase out those money changers

But they were the moneyed religious elite

The people who were messing up true worship, true faith

But when the ultimate test arrived

With the final answer had to be given

He died for the sheep

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

    yet he did not open his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

    so he did not open his mouth”

And thus the path to the Kingdom was opened

Thus the history of the world was bent toward peace, and love

It is a hard thing

Could I be non-violence in a time of great peril?

I don’t know

If my family or friends were threatened?

Most likely not.

Any yet, and yet

This is the way we change the world

This is how we beat hate and violence

This is how

God help us all be non-violent

In our thoughts

In our words

In our attitudes

In our actions

Non-violence is the weapon of the strong

God,

Help us be strong