People are challenging the principles of nonviolence. They tell us nonviolence has failed. And at first glance it would be easy to agree.
It could be easy to believe that our nature is violent. Yet if that were true how were Gandhi, Mandela and King able to find their way out of violence?
I am of the firm belief that if one of us can do this we can all do it. If one of us can move to a higher vision of humanity then that is all the verification we need to try.
Nonviolence has not failed. We have failed nonviolence. We have been satisfied by saying, “There it is done,” rather than saying, “Now I must do it.”
One of the greatest deterrents to nonviolence is our need for a leader. The path to nonviolence is not an external one. It is an internal journey that does not require the influence nor the prodding of another. No one can walk for us. No one can carry us. We have failed nonviolence because we have not taken our own steps or satisfied our own soul’s search for peace. We have failed to unshackle ourselves from the compromises that make us less human.
We do not need to be rescued. We need to wake up.
The game is afoot. If we allow people to say, nonviolence is dead, then we will surely die with it. It will take great courage and clarity to navigate the waters of ignorance that we have allowed. The darkness is no longer elusive and hiding in shadows, it is readily found in our politics, in our religions, in our businesses, in our homes. Yes, in every aspect of our lives.
Perhaps it is titillating to play with fear, to be the bully, to court revenge. Perhaps centuries of greed have taken its toll on humankind.
Yet for those with the eyes to see, if not now, then when will we stand before the darkness of our nature and say unhand me.
We have failed nonviolence. But it is never too late. The path is within us and we can chose to walk it.
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Mandela
Photo compliments of Noho
let kindness win 
Folks will talk about trying a new thing in their life and say, “It’s ineffective!”
A person tries a diet, or exercise routine, a new healthy habit, or a new way of thinking and they believe that the old way still works better. But ask those folks, for how long did you try? They may tell you for a long as they could stand, a week, a month, a few hours before they gave up and returned to their previous habit or way of thinking.
To see the benefits of any new habit or way of thinking, it takes a full reversal. It takes expunging the habit completely before one can really see the result of their efforts. Most people want the change to be instantaneous. Some see the journey to the new habit as an uncomfortable wobbly path where they get lost and stumble and feel the urge to turn back to the road they know.
It may take years or even a lifetime to see the benefit, to see even a glimmer of change, but once more folks embrace the journey, we will see those tiny movements in the snow become a great avalanche towards peace.
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