I know you are out there—millions of other people who are saddened and horrified as the United States bombs Iran, making threats to decimate a whole civilization. It’s so abhorrent to me that I’ve been tempted to turn away. I feel helpless. 

In his foreword to Mark Kurlansky’s excellent book “Non-Violence: The History of a Dangerous Idea,” the Dalai Lama says,  

The true expression of non-violence is compassion, which is not just a passive emotional response, but a rational stimulus to action. To experience genuine compassion is to develop a feeling of closeness to others combined with a sense of responsibility for their welfare. This develops when we accept that other people are just like ourselves in wanting happiness and not wanting suffering.  

And Rebecca Solnit, in describing the gains that non-violent tactics have made in the last century, says, 

These tactics embody prefigurative politics, the idea that if you embodied in your actions and relationships the values you sought to establish more broadly, you succeeded at the immediate level, whether or not your campaign was successful (The Beginning Comes After the End). 

I do not have control of foreign policy, and I barely understand the geopolitical forces at play now (though I am trying). But I have an immense amount of control over my everyday actions. I can model non-violence through: 

  • Refraining from hateful talk, even about people I detest. 
  • Giving money to people and organizations who are resisting non-violently at the center of struggle. 
  • Loving the non-human creatures in my orbit, like my dog and the rookery full of herons down by the bay. 
  • Turning toward suffering and allowing myself to imagine how it would be to lose a loved one as a victim of war. 
  • Limiting the amount of social media, advertisements, and other internet junk that I let in. This is a time for focus and sobriety, not a time to fall prey to everything everyone wants me to buy or endorse. 
  • Upping song, poetry, time in nature, meditation, and making things. I want to deeply feel my own humanness, and in so doing, connect with all beings. 

And I have some colleagues with wonderful offerings going on right now. If you need reinforcements, being with others is the best cure I know of. May you be safe, may you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be free. 

  • My friend and colleague Amy Lovejoy is leading a learning cohort called Pivot Accelerator. She says we don’t need more goals, but a container for them. You can find out more here and apply here. 
  • My spiritual director Jillian Froebe is a seasoned Authentic Movement practitioner, and is offering workshops on her beautiful site by the Nooksack River on May 23 and June 6, 12-5. Email her to sign up or get more info. 
  • My friend Dan Hines has two retreat offerings this winter (if you’re a planner) and he and his wife Robyn lead sailing adventures on Okanagan Lake in the summer. Yancey and I were with Dan and Robyn for a retreat in Portugal 2 years ago, and we are still talking about it. Find out more here.