Reflections on nonviolence as a way of life
3 May 2008 by Sandy, csj
I’ve been pondering my desire and efforts to live more nonviolently for some time, so I thought I’d offer a series of reflections on it, and invite you all to join in the discussion. First, I’m very encouraged that nonviolence is a core value in our Baden CSJ directional statement, that has guided us for quite a few years now. In fact we say directly, “We commit ourselves to live non-violently.”
So as we prepare for Chapter, I’m also encouraged that one of our core areas for deliberation is “CSJ spirituality of nonviolence.” It signifies a new re-commitment to this way of life.
Wondering and hoping that this may be a new moment of life and grace for us as CSJs and for all those whose lives we touch…
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A disclaimer as I prepare to leave town for a few days… my next two posts on this topic will magically appear while I am away from internet access, so if you leave me a comment and wonder why I’m not responding, it’s because I’ll be gone until next Friday.
Play nice while I’m gone…
Hello there. I hope you are well. I am doing good here…keeping busy. I thought I would share with you a prayer I recieved as part of preperation for a retreat that I am on the team for.
THE LONG VIEW
A PRAYER BY Archbishop Oscar Romero
It helps now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
It is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the
Magnificent enterprise that is God’s work
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying
That the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that should be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection,
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
Knowing that they will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything,
And there is liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning
A step along the way,
An opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter
And do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
But that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
Ministers, not messiahs.
We are the prophets of a future that is not our own.
AMEN
A beautiful poem - thank you for sharing. It echoes a conversation I had with my husband a few days ago. I was feeling overwhelmed: things are too bad; how can we hope to effect any change? Jerry reminded me that sometimes our job is to plant a seed and sometimes, as the poem says, to water seeds someone else has planted. As I prepare for pastoral ministry in healthcare, I am especially touched by the poem’s reminder that “no pastoral visit brings wholeness” and that “we are workers, not master builders” - I don’t have the blueprint; I don’t know the master plan - nor do I have to. My responsibility is to be in communion and cooperate with the One who is the Master. Thank you for bringing this to the forefront of my thinking.