Peace prophet speaks to Australia

pathways, SEPTEMBER 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I prefer the clumsy word used by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. to describe peacemaking in such a world: active, creative, loving "nonviolence".

 

If we are to herald the coming of God's reign of peace in our midst, with all its glorious social, economic and political implications, then we need to dig deep into the spirituality and practice of peace and nonviolence, make it concrete in every aspect of our lives, and become the light of peace to Australia and the world.

 

In that way, we come closer to following the nonviolent Jesus, fulfilling his Gospel teachings, and bearing the good fruit of peace. We obey the God who declares "Blessed are the peacemakers",  the God who commands "Love your enemies", the God who orders "Put down the sword".

 

For me, this task has meant protesting the U.S. war on Iraq, even engaging in civil disobedience and risking imprisonment. It's meant keeping vigil for nuclear disarmament in Los Alamos, New Mexico, birthplace of the Bomb, where business is booming. It's meant making the connection between community and church life and the disasters of war and global injustice that threaten us all.

 

It's a gorgeous summer day in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA, where I write these reflections. I'm on retreat with my friend the great Buddhist leader, Thich Nhat Hanh.

 

He travels the world teaching the Buddhist wisdom of mindfulness as the key to peace. He encourages us to be attentive to our breath, mindful of our day-to-day living, and aware of the peace within and around us.

 

And so, he teaches us to spend quality time in meditation focusing on our breath, walking quietly each day focusing on each step we take, eating slowly to be aware of our action, and gradually becoming more awake to the present moment.

 

As we embody peace, we inspire and give hope to others.

 

These teachings resonate with our Christian calling, but I suggest a few other ways to describe our peacemaking life.

 

 

That means, in our solitude and quiet meditation, we give God our violence, hostility, resentment, anger, bitterness and brokenness, and allow God to disarm our hearts, heal us and transform us into instruments of God's peace.

 

This daily practice of contemplative peace, living with the nonviolent Jesus, will turn us into mystics of peace who radiate personally the peace we seek politically for the whole world.

 

 

If we have not studied the lives and teachings of these great peacemakers, we have homework to do. And we need to start passing on these teachings of Gospel nonviolence to our students, church groups and congregations.

 

I suggest using the words "active nonviolence".  Ask others to reflect with you on the violence in our lives, communities, Australia and the world, and how we can become, like Jesus, people of nonviolence.

 

 

I think we all have to become peace and justice activists, to join the grassroots movements to help disarm the world, whether working to end Australia's collaboration with the U.S. in its war on Iraq, the world's mad rush toward nuclear annihilation or global warming, or injustices against various people closer to home.

 

None of us can do everything, but all of us have to do something for justice and peace.

 

I think our religious lives should make the connection between our personal ministries and local church work with the global grassroots movements for justice and peace, so that we are personally involved in structural change and witnessing to the coming of God's reign of peace.

 

 

We need to become prophets of nonviolence, like Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thich Nhat Hanh and others, who denounce injustice and war, and announce the coming of God's reign of justice and peace.

 

That means, of course, speaking out on these unpopular topics, saying 'No' to every war, injustice and violence, and heralding the coming of a new world without war, poverty or nuclear weapons.

 

"Those who have a voice should use it for justice and peace," Archbishop Oscar Romero said. Like the prophets of old, Jesus certainly spoke out clearly, and so should we. I hope more and more individuals and communities, parishes and religious orders, and groups across Australia and the world will begin to announce the good news of peace.

 

"We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence," Gandhi wrote. "But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence."

 

I hope and pray that each of us can delve deeper into the personal, communal and global practice of Gospel nonviolence, to discover not only renewed peace for ourselves, but new discoveries for Australia and the world, that we might herald a new Australia as a land of nonviolence, and indeed a new world of nonviolence.

 

As we do, we will truly be instruments of Christ's peace, and be greatly blessed.

 

 

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John Dear  is a North American Jesuit priest, speaker and author of 25 books on peace and nonviolence, including Living Peace, The Questions of Jesus, Disarming the Heart, The God of Peace, and most recently Transfiguration (Doubleday). He is featured in a new DVD film, The Narrow Path (available from www.sandamianofoundation.org). He writes a weekly column for the National Catholic Reporter (at www.ncrcafe.org).  see also: www.fatherjohndear.org

Fr John Dear faces court on September 6 (in America) and a possible jail term.  He wrote this article for pathways to mark International Peace Day on September 21.