inspiral blog

The topic this week was violence, nonviolence and gender, and it was a really interesting dynamic. For starters, out of the 7 of us, 6 were couples. Then, we discovered, it was four introverted males and 3 extraverted females. Interesting.

This made the first exercise pretty much useless, as the girls were already the dominant force in the group, so rather than liberating, it just seemed contrived. Actually, we discovered that none of the girls present had had much experience of gender violence at all. Huh. So what to do here?

We spent some time acknowledging that gender violence is a reality for many, and the fact that these girls don’t experience it is the direct result of the efforts and suffering of many women throughout history. We had some great discussions actually around gender roles. This was perhaps the most useful part for us – clearing the air over what constituted feeling safe for both guys and girls.

An email discussion in the previous week with another FVTW facilitator cleared up some confusions about this session: that some distinctions needed to be made between feminist contributions to nonviolence on the one hand, and issues of gender violence and nonviolence on the other. Also there were some parts that were actually not necessarily exclusively about gender nonviolence at all (eg. the two hands of nonviolence, which is equally applicable to all types of nonviolence, and the opening quote, which while it references gender violence, is again actually a good general nonviolence principle.) Making these distinctions was useful.

The opening quote is, in my opinion, one of the best in the book. It comes from Pam McAllister’s You Can’t Kill the Spirit: Stories of Women and Nonviolent Action:

“What has drawn me most strongly to nonviolence is its capacity for encompassing a complexity necessarily denied by most strategies. By complexity I mean the sort faced by feminists who rage against the system of male supremacy but, at the same time, love their fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, and male friends. I mean the complexity which requires us to name an underpaid working man who beats his wife both as someone who is oppressed and as an oppressor. Violent tactics and strategies rely on polarization and dualistic thinking and require us to divide ourselves into the good and the bad, assume neat, rigid little categories easily answered from the barrel of a gun. Nonviolence allows for the complexity inherent in our struggles and requires a reasonable acceptance of diversity and an appreciation for our common ground.”

We tried personalising the two hands of nonviolence bit (one hand palm outward to indicate the unwillingness to tolerate oppression, one hand open to receive the oppressor), because having tested it a few weeks ago, it was hard to do as described in the book without giggling (it just felt ridiculous). Personalising it helped; and this became quite powerful, particularly for one person, who wanted to adopt it physically as a response to situations of conflict! I think one of the things that this course is great for is actually making us aware of our bodies and body language in a way that we have lost touch with otherwise. I don’t think most of us are aware of the ways in which we place our bodies are not merely reflective of how we’re feeling, but have the power to shape our experience. This course is giving us practice at that, which is great once you get past the strangeness of it.

Sam mentioned a good point at the end: that none of this session dealt (at least directly, as I would say they are implied in all of it) with the religious or faith dimensions of gender violence or nonviolence, including Jesus. The way Jesus dealt with gender was utterly revolutionary, not only for his time but for ours as well. This struck me as a significant oversight, not so much on the part of the FVTW course, but rather on my part.

Overall, I’d say this was one of the weaker sessions in terms of our experience of the course – not that the material was weak so much as the dynamics and characteristics of our group are such that there was less necessity or resonance in it. Nonetheless, still a very useful session that adds much to our knowledge and experience of nonviolence as a way of life. Next week: Anthony leads our Gandhi session.

This week’s topic was Jesus and Nonviolence. We deviated a bit more from the book this week to cover some territory I was surprised to find the book didn’t cover.

We looked at Athanasius’ On the Incarnation first; basically a story of how the way God chose to interact with the world through Jesus, is an essentially nonviolent act. Here’s how Brian McLaren paraphrases it in A Generous Orthodoxy:

“Once upon a time there was a good and kind king who had a great kingdom with many cities. In one distant city, people took advantage of the freedom the king gave them and started doing evil. They profited by their evil and began to fear that the king would interfere and throw them in jail. Eventually these rebels seethed with hatred for the king. They convinced the city that everyone would be better off without the king, and the city declared its independence from the kingdom.

But soon, with everyone doing whatever they wanted, disorder reigned in the city. There was violence, hatred, lying, oppression, murder, rape, slavery and fear. The king thought: what should I do? If I take my army and conquer the city by force, the people will have to fight against me, and I’ll have to kill so many of them, and the rest will only submit through fear or intimidation, which will make them hate me and all I stand for even more. How does that help them – to be either dead or imprisoned or secretly seething with rage? But if I leave them alone, they’ll destroy each other, and it breaks my heart to think of the pain they’re causing and experiencing.

So the king did something very surprising. He took off his robes and dressed in the rags of a homeless wanderer. Incognito, he entered the city and began to living in a vacant lot near a garbage dump. He took up a trade – fixing broken pottery and furniture. Whenever people came to him, his kindness and goodness and fairness and respect were so striking that they would linger just to be in his presence. They would tell him their fears and questions, and ask his advice. He told them that the rebels had fooled them, and that the true king had a better way to live, which he exemplified and taught. One by one, then two by two, and then by the hundreds, people began to have confidence in him and live in his way.

Their influence spread to others, and the movement grew and grew until the whole city regretted its rebellion and wanted to return to the kingdom again. But, ashamed of their horrible mistake, they were afraid to approach the king, believing he would certainly destroy them for their rebellion. But the king-in-disguise told them the good news: he was himself the king, and he loved them. He held nothing against them, and he welcomed them back into his kingdom, having accomplished by a gentle, subtle presence what never could have been accomplished through brute force.”

We also looked at the classically misunderstood passage of Matthew 5:38-41:

“You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.

Abused as an exhortation to be a pacifist doormat, this passage, when understood in its original context, is actually anything but. ‘Turn the other cheek’ is a way of forcing an oppressor to treat you as an equal by using an open hand instead of a backhander; giving an oppressor your coat renders you naked, casting shame on them, not you (both for causing it and for looking on you); and going the second mile is a way of making an oppressive Roman soldier chase you begging for their load back (they were only allowed to force Jews to carry it one). All active, creative, responses to oppression that shift the balance of power; what someone has called ‘mental jujitsu’, or what Walter Wink calls Jesus’ ‘transforming initiative’.

In terms of what people found helpful, the Nancy Schreck article was particularly good – and the opening paragraph served as an important revisioning of nonviolence. It basically says that Jesus’ nonviolence was born way before he ever got into conflict, and was very much an orientation to the world; in fact, it was often his nonviolent orientation (through active inclusion and love of others and seeking of justice for the “least of these”) that caused more conflict than it solved. That’s helpful to revision nonviolence merely as a conflict resolution technique. The part about Jesus’ clearing the temple meaning that “compassion and wrath are not necessarily mutually exclusive” was also helpful.

Our group grew by one last week with the arrival of Ella Rose Moyle. She was born on August 11th at 7:15pm, weighing 3.97kg (8.8lbs). A very quick labour saw her born in less than an hour!

So lots of exciting news round this way at the moment.

Meryl and Lee got engaged last Thursday, and announced it officially on Sunday. Woo hoo!

CONGRATULATIONS, GUYS! We couldn’t be happier for you.

(and I get to marry them! yay!)

Just had our second week of this excellent Pace e Bene course in nonviolence, and it’s going really well.

First week was really an intro to the whole thing, just beginning to explore the themes and concepts. This week was more of an in-depth exploration of violence, both in terms of the dynamics of it and our experience of it. Looked at the dimensions of violence; emotional, verbal, and physical; personal, interpersonal, and structural. The violence barometer is a particularly helpful exercise, helping us to see that violence is an incredibly complex thing, and that opinions vary enormously between different people on just what it means. It involves briefly describing scenarios, and having people physically stand on a spectrum between ‘violent’ and ‘not violent’ according to where they think the scenario lands.

So this week was based around the idea in the John Dear article that violence is “forgetting who we are” as children of God. As I said last week, the Bible tells us that all humans (not merely all Christians) are children of God, and as such, all equal. It is only when we forget this (or refuse to acknowledge it at all) that violence becomes possible or excusable.

As for the prayer thingy, well, there’s been mixed reactions, but I reckon it’s still too early to tell if it’ll be long-term useful. Personally, I’ve found it great, and even more meaningful the second week (although having said that, I do it most days in between as well). One person mentioned it was ‘strange’, essentially because it was like the Catholic Mass he’d grown up with; which is a fair enough, particularly because it’s different to anything else we’ve done as a group. At least I spent some time explaining why it is the way it is, and that it will require some time to get used to. Anyway, as I said, it’s a starting point in the journey towards an authentic way of balancing contemplation with activism, not an end point, and I want to work with everyone to find a more natural way to do it.

On a personal note too, I want to say just how much I’m enjoying being a part of this group at the moment. There’s a real sense of connection and community at the moment, which is helped by great turnouts and a real sense of connection with and passion for the material. This is a course that works on a number of levels: it requires personal sharing (which our group is great at), it connects with your experience as well as theories, and it has some practical outcomes. But mostly, it’s great because of the laughter. We laugh all the time. There’s love there.

The old one was getting…well, old. And it was definitely a bit boring. I think this is an improvement.

You may now commence telling me how clever I am for working out how to do this…

Oh, and if you can’t see your face there, it’s not because I don’t like you, I just grabbed the first photos I could find…so if you want to be there, let me know and I can add some. Or if you don’t want to be there, let me know that too…

Perhaps I should have mentioned, by way of an intro to the previous post, that we have started (just this week) doing a small prayer liturgy. We’ve made it optional, starting it at 3, and running it for 20 minutes before the regular stuff starts at 3:30. That way, anyone who is prepared to can come, and it doesn’t interrupt the rest. It also sets the tone for those of us who are present for it.

Anyway, here’s what we’re doing…particular thanks to Nathan Nettleton’s South Yarra Baptist Morning and Evening Praise and Prayer liturgies, from which much of this was adapted. Words in italics are said by everyone.

We begin with a period of silence to centre ourselves on God.

God of all creation: your inspiration is life to the world.

Jesus Christ, Human One: your inclusive love binds all humanity.

Spirit of deep mysteries: your involvement in our lives births our involvement in others’.

Reflection
We pause at this point in our day
grateful for the hours of grace you have given us
and for those we are yet to receive.
We commit their successes and failures into your hands
for healing
for reconciling
for forgiveness
and as an offering.
Give us the courage to let go
of anything that would lead us astray
and the wisdom to embrace the gifts you have offered
in all we encounter this day.

A period of silence is kept for reflection on the day

Confession:
Merciful God
before all of heaven and one another
we confess that we have made bad choices
in our thoughts, words, and actions
and in what we have failed to do.

We ask you to forgive our sins
that we might find healing in your grace
and be raised to new life in Christ.

Sisters and brothers, your sins are forgiven:
be at peace.

Scripture:
God, whose Word becomes flesh and lives among us:
May your Word may take root
in the secret places of our hearts
and bear much fruit for your kingdom

Scripture is read, followed by brief period of silence

This is the word of the Lord
Thanks be to God!

Intercession (People or situations are named under the appropriate topic)
Let us pray for the care of the earth and the web of life on which we all depend

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

Let us pray for reconciliation and justice, wherever there is conflict, abuse or oppression

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

Let us pray for our enemies, for those we find it hard to love, and for those who harm us, intentionally or otherwise

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

Let us pray for those who are sick, hurting, despairing or grieving

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

Let us pray for others whose love or need we should not forget to share with God today.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

Let us pray for each other, and our inspiral friends who are not present.

Hear our prayers, tender God
and accept them in the spirit of the prayer your Son taught us:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
And deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
Now and forever. Amen.

Lord, we leave our prayers safe in your hands.
As we arise from our prayer
may your kingdom be laid bare before us
above us and around us
that we may see and honour your presence
in all the things of earth today.

Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me.

Amen.

We’re doing this for a few reasons:

1. Because prayer is not merely informational, but formational. We do prayer very informally the rest of the time, which makes it engaging, but not always as meaningful as possible. This is partially to redress that balance.
2. The sense of movement and growth we’ve seen in the group has impressed on us the need to find a worshipping life to sustain that growth over the long term.
3. There is therefore some urgency to explore and discover what that worshipping life might look like, in a native sense, for our group. This is therefore much less an end point in that search than a beginning point.
4. Eschewing traditional ways of doing things has been lifegiving for us in many ways, but I have been continually aware of honouring the past and drawing from it what is meaningful. That sense of sitting in something larger than ourselves (not merely geographically, but chronologically too) is incredibly important.
5. This gives us a chance to encounter scripture without interpreting it. That might sound like a bad thing – and it’s clearly going to be uncomfortable for some people, because we mostly have very intelligent thinkers, who need to understand what they’re hearing – but it’s important to resist that temptation. By not interpreting it, we’re allowing it to go to work on us in unintended ways. To allow the Spirit of God into the equation. To make their own connections.

Which is the point of the previous post…those connections were not made intentionally, nor were they proof-texted. Their meaning (or one possible one of many) was revealed precisely where it was needed, without the necessity for over analysation.