The last paragraph on the International Day of Peace website states:
“International Day of Peace is also a Day of Ceasefire – personal or political. Take this opportunity to make peace in your own relationships as well as impact the larger conflicts of our time. Imagine what a whole Day of Ceasefire would mean to humankind.”
I’d like to focus on that last paragraph; that is the only thing you and I have any control of. There are those who will say that there are mean, hurtful, crazy people out there and there is nothing we can do to change them, yet I submit that at the root of whatever we perceive is their behavior or attitude, is a human being, and human beings need love. The 19th century mystic Ranier Maria Rilke observed “Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” And Martin Luther King, Jr. stated “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
How many times have I been in a situation where an expression of love toward my fellow man could have made a difference, yet I withheld that love? Many, many, many times, I am embarrassed to say. Each of us can play an important part in preventing violence, in creating a peaceful world. To do this, and here’s the challenge, we must do everything we can to remove every trace of hostility in ourselves, and replace it with love and compassion. The violence we see in our world, in our country, in our communities, in our homes is the inevitable expression of the violence and hostility in our own heart. Violence is like an infectious disease – we worry about swine flu and want to get a flu shot – gee, can we get a nonviolence shot? Whenever we say hurtful or hostile words, or even act in a hostile way, we are passing this disease on to those around us. When we argue with our family, it is not just a domestic problem, we indeed are adding to violence everywhere.
Conversely, when we interact with others coming from a place of love and compassion, we are contributing to the consciousness of a peaceful world. We get to choose – and no matter what, it really is a choice, we are not helpless. Something amazing happens when we interact with others from a place of love – their attitude towards us changes! Hostility disappears; a smile takes the place of a red face. Gandhi was a model for this, violence, hostility and resentment in his heart was gone, replaced by love, and no one was afraid of him, not even the warrior Badshah Khan. So powerful was Gandhi’s model, Khan transformed his entire army of warriors into an army of peaceful, nonviolent warriors.
In closing, a reminder that this is the 50th anniversary of The Beatles. The Beatles reminded us that “All You Need Is Love” and I echo that sentiment. The question is, will we spread our love to everyone we meet, or withhold our love in judgment and retribution? I choose to treat everyone in a loving way, because by extending love, I create peace, and Peace Begins With ME!
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy