Just a few days ago I watched with moist eyes as the monks of Fort Worth, Texas finished their 2,300 mile peace walk entering Washington DC. What was especially heartening to see were the thousands and thousands of people lining the streets, parade style, showing their solidarity with the monk’s message of peace. Their message, which the monks stated was spiritual, rather than political, is what inspired them to brave the frigid winter temperatures of an east coast February. Even with all of the conflicts happening in our country and in our world, people are still inspired by the message of peace.
There are other religious leaders making statements too. The words of Pope Leo XIV ring with potency, “No one should be forced to flee, nor exploited or mistreated because of their situation as foreigners or people in need. Human dignity must always come first!” Indeed the bible itself gives the following injunction with absolute clarity, “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, You shall Love Him as Yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
But perhaps William Shakespeare said it best when the issue of immigration arose in England 400 years ago:
Why, you must needs be strangers: would you be pleased
To find a nation of such barbarous temper,
That, breaking out in hideous violence,
Would not afford you an abode on earth,
Whet their detested knives against your throats,
Spurn you like dogs, and like as if that God
Owed not nor made not you, nor that the elements
Were not all appropriate to your comforts,
But chartered unto them, what would you think
To be thus used? This is the strangers’ case;
And this your mountainish inhumanity.
It has been with some trepidation that I set out to write this particular blog post. I intended this platform for the promotion of mental health. And yet the intersection between politics and mental health at times becomes paramount. I am in a profession dedicated to helping people work toward greater self awareness, sanity and well-being. And yet what is going on from every direction of the planet is the opposite of sanity and well being. Human beings are literally killing each other. Warring over race, religion, territories, migration and immigration, nuclear arms, as well as basic fundamental values.
What is going on in the United States today feels heavy. It truly feels as though we as a nation have lost our way. My heart hurts for those getting the brunt of it right now, for the immigrants, the refugees, and those with no home on the planet. And my heart hurts to see the hatred, contempt, fear and greed erupting from those dark places in the human condition.
The questions that have been arising in my clients, colleagues, friends and in myself have been something along the lines of “How do we find peace inside ourselves with all of this going on?” “How does one respond in a way in which one becomes part of the solution instead of simply adding to the problem?” “What should we DO?”
It is not just in regard to human beings that these questions are urgent. One of the most heartbreaking things I have witnessed recently was a large amount of seals dying on the beaches of southern California. It was heart wrenching and alarming to watch the pathetic sight of the dizzy and disoriented seals suffering tragically before succumbing to their deaths. When my friend and I researched the cause of this pandemic it was found to be the result of toxic algae blooms. Upon digging even further we found that toxic algae blooms are caused by the run off of fertilizers into the ocean from nearby agriculture. It is not just human beings we are killing and making ill, but other beings too. It is painful to realize how much suffering human beings are causing on the planet. It extends to the animals, the insects, the trees, plant life, and oceans as well as ourselves.
Recently when visiting my family in southern California my niece, who is 15, reacquainted me with an old song. A song that was written during my childhood, in 1989. Billy Joel’s classic song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” goes a little something like this:
We didn’t start the fire.
It was always burning since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it but we tried to fight it
Hemmingway, Eichmann, “Stranger in a Strange Land”
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
“Lawrence of Arabia”, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK- blown away, what else do I have to say?
There’s more, but I’ll leave that to you and Apple and Spotify. This song reminds us of the long term perspective that these dramas have always been playing out on planet earth, from the warring of early tribes to the January 6th escapade. So why are we still surprised?
I remember as a kid, growing up in a small mountain town, the world felt so undramatic that I sort of wondered whether anything exciting would ever happen. And though this is certainly not true for everyone, most of us in this generation did not grow up with the same level of hardships that previous generations endured. Currently my grandmother is on hospice care. She is 100 years old. It is mind blowing to realize that she has been alive on this planet since 1926. That means she grew up during the great depression and lived through a World War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. She has SEEN some things.
Maybe our generation is entering into the deciding moment of our times. Maybe it has only been because of the sacrifices of those who came before us that we have evaded it so far. Maybe it is time for all of us to find our courage and fight for what we believe in, the right to free speech, among other things. Maybe our generation is finally getting a taste of what this world has always known, that there is a fiery side to the world we live in, and that the freedom we enjoy should not be taken for granted. At times we have to fight to keep it. Thank goodness we have history to look back upon and learn from. Yet whether we will learn from history remains to be seen.
Mohondus Ghandi has always been one of my biggest heroes. He found a way through the madness that few others had considered, the way of non-violence. Ghandi, though a Hindu, was inspired by the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth to “turn the other cheek” and not “return wrong for wrong.” Martin Luther King, a Christian minister, was in turn inspired by Ghandi. Martin Luther King became the inspiration for Nelson Mandela.
What I find so unique about Ghandi’s method was the way he applied the principles of non-violence. Militant Non-Violent Resistance he called it. Pacifism is sometimes equated with passivity or weakness. But this approach was active not passive, a courageous standing and fighting against injustice and oppression. And yet that fighting was in a different way. It was the fighting of the deep spirit in humankind for truth and justice and it was completely innocent of hatred and malice. No one could have accused Ghandi of weakness. In standing up against what was unfair in the legal system, this 5’5″ man endured many beatings in which he did not return the violence. He also spent an accumulated total of 6.4 years in jail throughout his life. He was finally assassinated in 1948, exactly 78 years ago. MLK would follow the same fate exactly 20 years later in 1968. No one could deny that Ghandi and Martin Luther Kind had great strength. Inner strength that is. It is easy and thoughtless to shoot, kill, and maim. It is not easy to take the brunt of it with your own body. What is truly remarkable is that it worked! Ghandi’s efforts, aided by millions of Indian people, were instrumental in ending British colonial rule. The Civil Rights Movement ended legal segregation and discriminatory voting practices. Today we need leadership like Ghandi’s and Martin Luther King’s. For anyone who has known the horror of war knows that it is a last, last, last resort. The endless amount of films that have been made about World War II are there to remind us of that. It is as if they cry out from the grave “Don’t Forget What Has Been!”
Is peace possible in times such as these? The monks of Ft. Worth seem to think so. Ghandi and Martin Luther King lived the message of peace, even when it cost them their lives. Their message was that peace must begin inside of each person. Peace is an inside job. Inner change precedes outward shift. Martin Luther King said, “Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” The world we are living in today is a pluralistic society and each person must find peace in their own way. It is times like these that beckon us to look deeper and dig deeper for what can truly support, anchor, and sustain us amidst the uncertainty. History is in the making as we speak. And if so, you and I were born for such a time as this. In this fire may our true colors burn bright.
I began this article with the question How NOW Shall We Live? I’ll finish with the words of Jaime Lee Curtis from her children’s book, “Is There Really a Human Race?”
Sometimes it’s better not to go fast. There are beautiful sights to be seen when you’re last. Shouldn’t it be that you just try your best, and that’s more important than beating the rest? Shouldn’t it be looking back at the end, that you judge your own race by the HELP that you lend? So, take what’s inside you and make BIG, BOLD choices. And for those who can’t speak for themselves use BOLD voices. And make friends and love well and bring art to this place. And make the world better for the whole human race!
Stay tuned for My Next Blog Post: Your Best Defense Against Despair: The Stories We Live By