What Are You Fighting About?

When we were little boys arguing and scuffling with one another, my mother would yell out the window: "What are you kids fighting about? Stop it!" That would almost always abruptly end whatever quarrel we were having. A simple question and directive put us back at play, sometimes with a grumble, but with enough resolution to carry on. Peace had been mandated from on-high.

What we are fighting about and what we are fighting for are quite different. Unlike children, we find it difficult to let go of things in deference to the needs of others. We fight about things that are silly, momentary and transitory. But we fight for the things held most dear. Freedom, liberty, basic human rights, our homes, and way of life are well worth the battle. I once asked a WWII Veteran what he fought for.  He replied; "Mom, apple pie, the girl next door, and her dog Spot." He was being whimsical of course. But there is plenty of truth to his statement. We also stand our ground against tyranny, injustice, and oppression. The differences between fighting about and fighting for are quite distinct. In either case, non-violent resolution is far superior to violent conflict.

Unfortunately, most of us think that we must win at all costs. Tribalism trumps our common bonds and oneness with the rest of creation.  Some are even willing to weaponize religion and scripture to justify violence against those who threaten us. Extremists have historically endorsed wars between nations and civilizations on the basis of differences in religious beliefs. I wonder how we might treat a Palestinian Jew who rallies huge crowds of followers telling us that we are responsible for feeding the hungry, housing the homeless and welcoming the stranger. Would we call him a Socialist Libtard? Would we crucify him again?

“If Christ Himself walked through these doors, teaching that we should love our neighbor and our enemy, that we should welcome the stranger, that we should fight for the least of us...He would be maligned as a radical and rejected.”

— Rep Ocasio-Cortez quoted by Jim Wallis, President and Founder of Sojourners 

Yet these are the very things that Jesus asked of his followers two thousand years ago;

• Love your enemies and do good to them, and lend without any hope of return

• Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.

He also told them this;

I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,

I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,

I was a stranger and you invited me in

I needed clothes and you clothed me

I was sick and you looked after me

I was in prison and you came to visit me

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

All of this ridiculous fighting amongst one another would come to an abrupt halt if we stopped ignoring these age old directives of Jesus. We wouldn't have time for such nonsense. Maybe if we listened hard a voice could be heard from the kitchen window asking what the fight is all about and telling us to stop it. Perhaps that voice really is coming from on-high.

Authentically Living the Gospel's Message of Peace

There is encouraging evidence that we share in a collective consciousness which is guiding us to fulfill God's Eternal Dream of a peaceful people, under a friendly sky in union with all creation.

This is not milk-toast sentiment nor naive wishful-thinking either. It is obvious that we are struggling through times of violence, addiction, injustice, and a myriad of terrible problems. But while it seems that we are practically derailed by our own pain, there is an undercurrent of love joining us together in ways that we can hardly fathom.

A good example is the burgeoning movement called Campaign Nonviolence observed this week with workshops, marches, festivals, and gatherings all around the USA. Emerging from 50 cities comes a light shining on ways to end what Dr. King called the three evils of society; racism, poverty and war.

National Civil Rights Museum website

Memphis, Tennessee, one of the five most violent cities in the country would seem to be an unlikely place to wage peace. But the city is fully embracing Campaign Nonviolence. One of the most powerful events occurs on Saturday, September 21. Memphis is hosting a forum at the National Civil Rights Museum which is located at the site of the assassination of Martin Luther King. People are joining in a desire to end systemic violence. Their stated goal is "to discuss and co-create life skills tools that can help towards a more tranquil, respectful and compassionate life in each of the core life interactions - personal, professional and societal." They have an action plan which includes projects for veterans groups, schools and multi-cultural organizations.

United Nations Photograph by Phillip LeConte

I have come to believe that work for nonviolence must begin within the shadows of our inner selves. This involves admitting tendencies we have to judge others. We must recognize not only the harm we inflict by what we say and do but by exploring the violence we harbor in our hearts. We trade evil for good, as Thomas Keating suggests, by making our internal and external enemies our partners.

In so doing, we become empowered to authentically live out the Gospel message of peace by loving our neighbors without prejudice or exceptions.

Visit https://paceebene.org/

Banner Photography Phillip LeConte

Never Numbing Out; Overcome and Carry On

This is the first of four follow-up articles on the many facets of fear including a four-part Interview/Special Report with Rabbi Moshe Scheiner of Palm Beach Synagogue.

After I wrote about the paralysis of fear, its' numbing effects, and resultant feelings of powerlessness, it was pointed out to me that there was another, more intentional, response to fear beyond freeze, fight, and flight.  That response is loving persistence or courageous non-violence. It is evidenced in the Sermon on the Mount, as Jesus called for his followers when confronted by fear and violence to turn the other cheek.  This was not an instruction of pacifism.  Turning the other cheek was about demanding equality from a person of authority. This is the most measured and effective action that can be taken when fear, anger, and aggression show up.

Courageous non-violent cheek turners were named by Columbia University's School of Journalism as 2019 Pulitzer Prize winners on Monday, April 15th. One award went to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel for exposing failings by officials before and after the deadly shooting rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Another went to Staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for immersive, compassionate coverage of the massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue that captured the anguish and resilience of a community thrust into grief.  These journalists stood strong for their communities and for us all in the face of fear and anger.  They exposed the truth and rejected the lure of moving on to other stories.  They refused to numb out.  The parent of a Parkland victim wrote South Florida Sun-Sentinel after Pulitzers were announced encouraging the paper to continue its' work saying there was still much to be done.  He can rest assured that they will carry on.

It takes a lot of guts to persist, to remain steadfast, and to overcome.  A courageous cheek turner must have the resolve of Gandhi, who when confronted by his jailers with threats intended to invoke fear replied; "They may torture my body, break my bones, even kill me. Then they will have my dead body, but not my obedience.” But this is exactly the kind of response which will defeat fear in its' tracks.  We shall overcome. It is the essence of love.  And love refuses to capitulate.  It will not retaliate-in-kind.  It will not run away.  it will not numb out. Love is an action-choice made by the brave soul who finally rejects all notions of self in deference to the greater good.