"Let us fill our hearts with our own compassion -- towards ourselves and towards all living beings."
--Thich Nhat Hanh
In order to have compassion for ourselves and for others, it is often necessary to step outside of our current situation, to gain perspective and be released from that which we may find ourselves mired in. This is especially true in the peace and justice movement as the impact of our work may not be seen for many moons.
The Metta Center for Nonviolence, an affiliate of FOR, created the Roadmap to Nonviolence to pull us into a new reality that points the way to a new story where we embrace and live in the truth of the importance of:
- The consistency of means and end.
- Seeking to defeat and transform unjust systems, not people.
The Roadmap mandala acts as a guide, organizing tool and big picture framework to connect the many pieces -- both the people and the work -- of the peace movement. The "new story" that the Roadmap invites us to has at its root the call to fill our hearts with compassion and love.
As an expression of love for Valentine's Day, we share with you the Metta Center's Roadmap as a new way of engaging the practice of showing, giving and receiving love every day.
- How about adopting a personal spiritual discipline as a way of loving yourself, your spirit and your soul?
- How about affirming love by attending a meeting to set up restorative justice practices in your community?
- How about avoiding chocolate that is not fair trade?
- How about joining the conversation on Roadmap to be a part of a community that is seeking to live out and make manifest the new story?
We at FOR are loving the work of our friends at the Metta Center, and hope you will too.
With love,
Rev. Kristin Stoneking and the team at FOR
(Image credits: Lee J. Haywood, Flickr Creative Commons; the Metta Center for Nonviolence.) |
