Momentum towards a Radical Peace: Developing Our Own Weapons of Mass Creativity   

(for April 17, 2003 SF Federal Building Interfaith Service/Nonviolent Protest/CD)

by Diana Lion, BPF Prison Project Director

Good morning.  Today is the first day of Passover, the Jewish holiday of Liberation.  It also marks one month since the United States and England launched a pre-emptive war against Iraq.

We are gathering here this morning to bear witness to this tragedy thousands of miles away, and to regroup in the face of hollow proclamations of victory by the American government.  I recently ended a month of silent retreat.  As I re-enter the fast-paced life in this country, I want to remember a few things. 

In spite of all the obvious differences, we all, as living beings, have a lot more in common than we often notice.  I’m including George Bush, Saddam Hussein, Tony Blair, all of you, myself, children and adults from every culture and background:

• All of us, without exception, were born from women’s wombs.
• All of us, without exception, will die one day.
• None of us, without exception, know exactly when that will be.
• All of us, without exception, have the same basic needs – for survival, meaning, connection, choice; though we have countless different strategies for getting those needs met.
• All of us, without exception, have the possibility of both making horrible mistakes, and repairing them.
• All of us, without exception, want to be happy.

Let us take a few moments now to silently reflect on these common needs shared by all humankind.

SILENCE   

If we want to work towards a true victory, let us return to seeing the inherent connectedness between us, without exception. Let us transform the habits of violence.  Let us remember that any time we enter into conflict, we can either continue on a trajectory of violence and separation; or we can transform that conflict into a trajectory of genuine peace.  Let me be clear: I am not talking about papering over conflict, and “being nice”. Because there can be violence in false niceness.

I’m talking about pursuing a path which will lead to a radical peace. To do that we need to stay alive enough and awake enough to act from remembering our inherent interconnectedness.  In our global village, let us take our places as village mothers and fathers seriously, and in the spirit of connection, protect each other from acts of violence – for the sake of all our children, all the victims, and all the perpetrators.

This is a time when many of us are discouraged.  Our unprecedented efforts neither prevented nor stopped this war, and we are mourning the tremendous suffering. This mourning is an important part of staying connected to each other.

But let us also hold the long view. 300 wars have been fought on our planet since the end of World War II.  When we look closely, we find that this war did not start just in the few months leading up to it.  This war is about oil, but not just about oil. This war is about power and control, but not just about power and control. This war is about profit, but not just about profit.

This war, like every war, is also about seeing others as “other”.  

Let us hold the long view and move towards peace by reweaving the threads of human connection.  Many of us are already engaged in that work. 

Let us remember Dr. Ariyaratne in Sri Lanka, who wrote a 500 year peace plan for the warring peoples in his country, because it had taken 500 years to get into that situation.

Let us remember the Nonviolent Peaceforce, made up of people from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.  They pledge to serve nonviolently in areas of conflict around the world.

Let us remember Aung San Suu Khyi, whose quiet leadership has inspired the Burmese people to keep resisting the ruling military regime nonviolently.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, Cesar Chavez, and so many others… all worked to unravel the threads of violence.

Let us honour their legacy (and that of so many others) by unleashing our own weapons: weapons of mass creativity for a radical peace.  And may the knowledge of our interconnectedness lead us to a deep and true freedom. 

May all beings, without exception, be held in lovingkindness.

May all beings, without exception, be protected from harm.

May all beings, without exception, find a deep peace.

May all beings, without exception, be completely free.