“Non violence means avoiding not only external physical violence,
but also internal violence of spirit.
You not only refuse to shoot a man,
but you refuse to hate him.”
--The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Stride Toward Freedom
Our country has multiple pandemics to recover from in the months and years ahead, and is in desperate need of peacemakers to do that work. But you can’t make peace unless you are at peace. Jesus knew it, Gandhi knew it, the Buddha knew it. Hate, anger, suspicion, resentment, fear not only disturb your private peace, they also cripple your ability to contribute to public peace.
So how to begin the nation’s healing? By surfacing and mastering our own greatest temptations. What am I most tempted to fear? Who am I most tempted to hate? To suspect? To resent? Your answers might be as distant as public figures, as indefinable as the anonymous internet troll, as intimate as a member of your own family. You can start the excavation at any level, and at any time: the path forward will only emerge when we seek the kind of understanding that can soften our own, hard hearts.
--The Rev. Barbara Talcott
Spread the word!
Do you know someone in the St. Mark’s community who would enjoy these reflections?
