In 1998, Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Ghandi, introduced the Season for Nonviolence. These 64 days, observed each year, begin on January 30 and end on April 7—commemorating the assassinations of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In California especially, the life work of Cesar Chavez is also honored. The Association for Global New Thought, and many New Thought churches, dedicate this season to promoting peace.
You may have seen the quote "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Though it is doubtful that Gandhi ever said these exact words, in 1913 he wrote: “We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”
Nonviolent protest has been an essential part of social and political change in American history. Martin Luther King, Jr. laid out six principles of nonviolence in his book Stride Toward Freedom.
1. Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.
2. Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding.
3. Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people.
4. Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform.
5. Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.
6. Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice
Please join us this coming Sunday, March 31, as we share the impact that a commitment to nonviolence can have in our individual lives and in our world.