Wolves

The subject of nonviolence recently appeared in the July issue of Sojourners magazine.   An article entitled, “Is Nonviolence Naïve?” by Andrew Klager is a must read.  He asks, “ What counts as violence?” His reply was:

Violence is any action that undermines the dignity of another human being, whether direct, structural, or institutional. This can be emotional, psychological, spiritual, or physical abuse; actions that dehumanize the Other; forms of injustice, oppression, or marginalization; and war, genocide, mob violence, and armed insurrection.  But violence is not the same as conflict. Conflict provides the space to air grievances and expose injustice; nonviolence entails ending conflict by eroding its causes without succumbing to the allure of violence. Nonviolence requires “the willingness to face conflict head on, to resolve it, and to make it a link in the chain of a new process,” explained Pope Francis. 

He concludes with:

Christian nonviolence is hard; that’s why we need practice. We cultivate nonviolence not as a strategy to dust off in urgent circumstances or international crises, but as a way of life. Nonviolence is an antidote to the violence that infects our minds and souls.  We need to practice it in everyday decisions, including interior and interpersonal struggles, our interactions with the environment, and our personal economic choices.

In all these actions, we try to recognize the image of God—the one who gives life and is life—in all human beings, whether we think they’re deserving of this or not.  The word “deserve” does not belong in the vocabulary of a practitioner of nonviolence.  Nonviolence undercuts the “us vs. them” dichotomy and refuses to distinguish between the culpable and the innocent; there are only those who are in need of more transformation, restoration, and healing than are others.

Rather than not violence and not death, the positive expression of Christian nonviolence is the percolation of life that bubbles up among the many expressions of violence in our world so that death is eventually overwhelmed.  And this sums up the entire Christian vocation: participating in life as a way to conquer death.  This is Christian nonviolence.

Klager is convincing; however, many of us still choose the path taken by empires: violence, exploitation, and competition.    Many of us, of course, choose the way of Jesus: humility, compassion, and unity.   Here’s where the story of two wolves is helpful.

A grandfather is talking with his grandson and he says there are two wolves inside of us which are always at battle.  One is a good wolf which represents things like kindness, bravery, and love. The other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed, hatred, and fear.  

The grandson stops and thinks about it for a second then he looks up at his grandfather and says, “Grandfather, which one wins?”  

The grandfather quietly replies, “The one you feed.”

Which one do we feed?

Deacon David Pierce