Fwd: Soul-force not brute-force

[gabby...@westnet.com.au]

----- Original Message -----

From:

"John Philip Newell" <b...@heartbeatjourney.org>

To:

gabby...@westnet.com.au

Sent:

Tue, 7 Oct 2014 15:28:23 -0400 (EDT)

Subject:

Soul-force not brute-force

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

Soul-force Not Brute-force by John Philip Newell The following is an exclusive excerpt from The Rebirthing of God:   Around the same time as George MacLeod's life-changing experience of Christ on the front lines during World War I, Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), the modern world's greatest prophet of nonviolence, was leading a movement called Satyagraha (truth-force) in a thirty-year struggle to free India, nonviolently, from British domination.   click to order Gandhi has been hailed as the twentieth century's most Christ-like figure. Interestingly, of course, he was not a Christian. He was a Hindu. But the only picture he had in his room at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad showed Jesus with an inscription below that read "he is our Peace."Gandhi called Jesus the great "Asian prophet," a reminder to the West that our central figure of religious belief was not a Westerner at all.As Gandhi used to say, if Christians had actually done what Jesus taught us to do-namely, love our enemy-the world would long ago have been transformed. "Christianity became disfigured when it went to the West," said Gandhi. "It became the religion of kings."Gandhi challenged us to turn our creed back into deed, our belief in Jesus into following the practice of Jesus.   In India's long struggle for self-rule, Gandhi believed it was not enough to simply  defeat the British. The goal was to turn the fiends of India into the friends of India, to transform the relationship between nations, not simply to overthrow the British. "I refuse to regard anyone as my enemy," said Gandhi. Hatred of the other can never lead to true liberation. So Gandhi distinguished between two kinds of force. There is brute-force, he said, and there is love-force.There is the use of violence against an oppressor and there is the use of active noncooperation or civil disobedience. The latter is "a thousand times more effective" than the former. He believed that an eye for an eye would only make the whole world blind. On the other hand, love-force, or soul-force as he also called it, can change the heart and the will of an entire nation.    2014, Skylight Paths, 79-80.   *above photos courtesy of Caleb Dodson Upcoming Events   13-17 October | Nano Nangle Centre, Ireland 17-19 October | Emmaus Retreat Center, Ireland 19-21 October | Wicklow Ecology Center, Ireland 31 Oct-2 November | Ireland Book Launch, Ireland 6-16 November | United States Teaching Tour SAVE THE DATE: 13-19 July 2015 : Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM   See all event details *above photo courtesy of Caleb Dodson Can you feel the Heartbeat? Have you experienced the transformative ministry of John Philip and Ali Newell?  Now its time to pay it forward. Heartbeat is a network of world-changers committed to sharing a spirituality that honors the earth, values other wisdom traditions, and speaks truth to power.    Will you consider joining this effort by making a contribution today? You can donate online or send a check to:   Heartbeat P.O. Box 11853  Minneapolis, MN 55411   We depend on you to keep spreading this powerful ministry.    Peace and blessings,   Ben Lindwall Executive Director | Heartbeat  b...@heartbeatjourney.org Donate Now   Peace for the earth and its creatures peace for the world and its peoples peace for our fathers peace for our mothers peace for our brothers and sisters. The peace of heaven's vastness the peace of the ocean depths the peace of earth's stillness   -John Philip Newell, Praying with the Earth: a Prayerbook for Peace. Photo by Chuck Summers.           We seek to be part of healing in our world  by providing fresh articulation for earth-honoring spirituality,  facilitating interfaith relationship, and enabling young adults in contemplation and engagement. Rooted in the Celtic vision of John Philip Newell and Ali Newell, we speak from within the Christian household in communion with humanity's other wisdom traditions. STAY IN TOUCH!        www.heartbeatjourney.org    PO Box 11853 Minneapolis, MN  55411 (888) 310-7770

Forward this email This email was sent to gabby...@westnet.com.au by b...@heartbeatjourney.org |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Heartbeat | P O Box 11853 | Minneapolis | MN | 55411

[Peter humphris]

a timely reminder

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Discussion St Pauls Anglican Beaconsfield" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to discussion-st-p...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to discussio...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/discussion-st-pauls.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.