Non-Violence is a quality not of
the body but of the soul, M.K. Gandhi,
Mahatma Vol. 2, p. 43
The last day of June and it is still not very hot. But it is warm and sunny and that is good enough. The warm and sunny weather was great for our St. Vincent De Paul conference picnic on the back deck of our house overlooking the garden.
After talking with a few friends tonight over the kitchen table we got into a discussion, with Pat joining us, about sexual abuse scandal on the eve of Milwaukee Archdiocese. We also talked extensively about our own and loved ones battles with mental illnesses, or brain disorder. My goal is to have mental illnesses recognize as illness just cancer or a heart condition but I have little hope to see that day soon. Persons with mental illnesses, unlike homosexuals, cannot organize, protest and struggle for civil rights. Change only happens, like we witnessed in the last 20 years in the gay community with organizing and nonviolent actions.
I received from India today an interesting quote from Gandhi that might give us a hint of how nonviolent chance works. He says: “Non-violence is a quality not of the body but of the soul.” It is the change of heart where real change starts. All we can do for change is create an environment where it is easy to be good and discover the true power of nonviolence in our soul. Once we do this, we, working together, have the power to change the world.
We were discussing tonight how we can “End ROTC” or military training in war and killing at Marquette at our rally and trial on July 15th. All we can do is to invite all those who talked and worked so hard to rally, march and expose at the trial the truth of Marquette teaching war and killing. Perhaps we can create an environment where more people can experience the quality of non-violence in their soul.
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