Reconnecting with Nonviolence
When I started this series on reconnecting, I realized that we would come to the section on nonviolence on the very day when we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord who just short days before had suffered a great violence and yet had not offered any resistance except to engage in conversation with Pilate and the chief priest. He neither encouraged the disciples to resist his arrest in the garden nor did he attempt to save his life when tried and condemned to death. He restored the ear of the servant whom Peter had smitten with his sword and he forgave anyone who had had a hand in his arrest, trial and conviction. Jesus knew that the path to peace and reconciliation in the world and among its people and their reconciliation with God would never come about through violent means. It has been clear throughout history that every peace that has come at the end of war has been a peace that leaves an impression of peace but also leaves unresolved hurts. Where there are perceived winners, there are also losers. And while this world will never achieve its perfection in the present, the example of God in Jesus is there to guide us to seek to change the world in which we live by endeavouring to commit ourselves to a path of nonviolence.
But is nonviolence simply the absence of conflict? The short answer is no; nonviolence is a path that does have conflict but the difference is that nonviolence seeks to resolve conflict in a way that allows for dialogue and resolution that takes account of the thoughts, feelings and lives of both sides of any dispute. If we are to reconnect with nonviolence in our faith journey with God, we need to be aware of how conflict first arises in our life and the life of our communities, nations and world. We then need to consider how we may respond to such conflict in a way that will acknowledge the source of the conflict and commit ourselves to finding the path that will lead to its resolution.
Violence and conflict have ever been present in our world. The Bible never has attempted to hide this nor has it ever pretended that people were always successful in handling it. There are many instances of violence and conflict in the Bible but there are also instances of people who chose to respond to violence and conflict in ways that would challenge people. Finding creative ways to handle conflict and violence in our lives and in the life of the world is what Newell asks us to do as we seek to reconnect with our faith.
Reconnecting with nonviolence is about renewing our commitment to reclaiming peacemaking as essential to following God in Christ. George MacLeod, who is the modern rebuilder of the Iona Community in Scotland, wrote this poem: It is not just the interior of these walls, it is our own inner beings you are renewing….We are your temple not made with hands. We are your body. If every wall should crumble, and every church decay, we are your habitation…. We bless you for this place….. but take us “outside the camp”, Lord, outside holiness, out to where soldiers gamble, and thieves curse, and nations clash at the cross-roads of the world…. So shall this building continue to be justified. (Newell, p. 78)
For MacLeod a commitment to spiritual practice, to that Light within us, to compassion and to the sacredness of life was a commitment to peacemaking. For MacLeod, the salvation brought by God was not just a salvation of our souls but was, what he called, whole salvation. The offering of God in Christ to humanity was not about salvation from the world, it was about salvation of the world. Jesus spoke not so much about our life to come as our life in the here and now. The way that he revealed was designed to begin a transformation of this world and our lives now from the injustices and violence that so often dominate our domestic affairs and international relations. The words of the Lord’s Prayer speak to this when Jesus encourages us to pray: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Dietrich Bonheoffer declared that the beatitudes were to be the blueprint for the Christian life. And we know that the peacemakers will be blessed and will be children of God.
Mahatma Gandhi has been recognized as one of the 20th century’s most Christ-like figures. But he was a Hindu. Interestingly enough, the only picture in his room showed Jesus with an inscription that read: He is our Peace. Gandhi saw the wisdom in the path that God had revealed in Jesus. He believed that Christianity had become disfigured when it became the religion of kings. His challenge to Christians was to turn the creed of our faith back into deed, to turn our belief in Jesus into following the practice of Jesus. Gandhi believed that hatred of another can never lead to true liberation. He believed that an eye for an eye would only make the whole world blind.
He spoke of two forces: brute-force and love-force or soul-force. Brute-force is easy to understand and is probably one that most of us have experienced to a greater or lesser degree; and I am sure we know how we feel if we have been on the receiving end. We may even have regrets if we have been on the giving end.
But love-force or soul-force is to be guided not by violence or hatred but by creativity. Paul in his letter to the Romans (12:21) encourages us to overcome evil with good. Whatever change we seek for in our lives, we are encouraged to seek it by the spirit of love. But reconnecting with nonviolence does not mean being a doormat or a patsy or weak. It takes strength and courage. It takes a willingness in us to challenge ourselves to discover the response that will bring resolution and reconciliation and alleviate hatred and resentment.
We have a responsibility which, broken down, means we have the ability to respond. But that ability needs to be nurtured and we do that through prayer and meditation, through seeking for the wisdom of God and the strength and courage to act on the wisdom that is revealed.
We will never perfect this world but we can make changes in our lives, the lives of those around us and our communities if we are willing to reconnect ourselves with the call of God in Jesus for us to be peacemakers.