Counter Suggestions to Thomas the Child

Posted on October 3, 2002 in Courage & Activism Crosstalk Social Justice

chari reprints the well-intentioned appeal of a “young child named Thomas, who lives in Bulgaria” for promoting inner peace in these troubled times. (I noted that this “young child” uses some pretty adult words like “involved”, “conclusion”, “conflict”, and “dissipate” to mention a few. I suspect, at the minimum, that this has been run through an adult medium, perhaps with some additions of content.)

His advice seems sound at first reading. I can certainly see its appeal to those who wish to escape the sufferings inflicted on us by the world:

1. Focus on what you want to happen, not on what you’re afraid will occur. If thousands of people focus their hearts on a positive outcome, or a peaceful conclusion, then you will help shift the tide of fear toward love. Then love will prevail, and the conflict will dissipate.
   
   
   
2. Pray for the leaders of the countries involved, especially President Bush. Pray that they be guided by love, not fear, and that their actions be for the benefit of all humanity.
   
   
3. Know in your heart that everything is perfect, even though it may not seem to be. Everything is happening as it should to demonstrate the reality of peace on Earth.

With all due respect to chari, who I love dearly, I must state that this advice may compound the problems we now face as a nation and as a species. Thomas’s suggestions remind me of those given to me by housewives who live in gated communities where the poverty, social dissent, and all the other nastinesses of the world are locked out. America, itself, is a gated community as anyone who has driven along the border with Mexico and seen the shanty towns behind the barbed wire-topped hurricane fences knows as a fact. Thomas’s words appeal to those of us who acquire the fantastic products of American society: peace becomes just another product that you pick up and try on when it’s the fashion.

Contrary to the consumer mystique which holds comfort to be the means to peace, the saint realizes that we cannot escape suffering. Here we might review the story of the Buddha, who was moved to his higher spirituality
by leaving such his palace and seeing the suffering of the poor and the destitute first hand. He first sought to hide in a forest. Then, he found enlightenment when he realized that he had to go back to where the people were.

No saint that I know would put the blame for a crisis on the ones who scream because it pricks them. Nor do saints stay silent. Popular lore has made St. Francis into what I call a “fluffy bunny saint” who did nice things for children and animals. The man himself was more complex and certainly not one to keep his mouth shut when he saw injustice. This is a man who took the inner command to “rebuild the Church” far beyond the act of reconstructing a ruined chapel. Francis became what he was because he’d participated in war and had lived affluently. He didn’t just “pray for peace” — he walked barefooted to the Pope to tell him to reform the church and, later, straight to the Ottoman Emperor, with overtures of Christian forgiveness.

Both Francis and the Buddha left the comfortable for the uncomfortable. They realized that things were not perfect and they left pampered lives to do something about it.

Not every person enjoys security. In my blog as of late, I’ve looked around and spoken to the ways in which my own luxury depends on the exploitation of others. I don’t know what my answer is, beyond describing what I see at this time, but “seeing everything as perfect” isn’t going to be it. Visions exist beyond the moment. It is wise to recognize the potential for good in every person, but also, as a saint would, the palpable presence of evil around us and in ourselves.

I reject “positive thinking” as defined by Thomas. Give me Gandhi, Dorothy Day, or Martin Luther King instead. These “troublemakers” lived what some might call contentious lives in that they spoke up when they saw peoples oppressed and wars waged. All three had tempers and all three ranted and raved. All three prayed and sought the good in others, too. These things are not exclusive of one another. The stories of the Buddha and St. Francis, I dare say, prove that an appreciation for the existence of pain is essential to a mind dedicated to peace.

So let me start my counter-suggestions to Thomas with the words that everything is not perfect. You need to understand this as a necessary prerequisite for thoughtful and effective action. Here are my kernels:

1. Acknowledge your pain and your despair. Define what it is. Talk to others about it. Compare and seek the true nature of the world.
   
   
   
2. When you know evil, do something to correct it. Speak to it — don’t just pray for George Bush — call the White House and make it clear that you do not support his unChristian actions against the people of Iraq. Speak to actions and ideas: avoid demonizing the person. Real saints and people of peace do not hold their tongues.
   
   
   
3. Keep your sense of humor about others and yourself. Use ridicule and sarcasm wisely.
   
   
4. Refuse to see any person as an enemy who must be eliminated in the interests of peace. Removing a corrupt leader is acceptable, but killing him is not.
   
   
   
5. Be aware that you share the world with others. There is nothing wrong with loving your country. The evil of our age is the belief that others do not enjoy the same rights as you. (Read and reflect on this hymn that Lynn posted.)When you ask for blessings, ask them for the whole world.
   
   
6. Never believe that violence in any form relieves suffering. To paraphrase Gandhi, whether we bomb the people of Iraq to seize their oil or we do it to bring them democracy, the shrapnel is going to feel pretty much the same.
   
   
7. Be mindful of the effects of your actions. I have resolved not to participate in any patriotic displays for the duration of this antagonism because to do so is inevitably to leads to some spoken or implied endorsement of the exercise in Iraq. I do not advise demonstrations where flags are burned or meetings attacked. I do support frank declarations of principle and the silent refusal to take part.
   
   
8. Don’t be afraid to make sacrifices, including the loss of your freedom, if it becomes necessary. Do not expect everyone else to follow.
   
   
9. Be mindful of your lifestyle. Consider how it might be changed to reduce your addiction to luxury. Prepare to undergo suffering for the good of the world.
   
   
10. Stay in touch with the beauty of the world. Look up to the mountains. Take a walk by the river. Spend moments enjoying the clouds, the frogs jumping in the mud, the scent of the honeysuckle. Do this every day. Enjoy friendly talks with others, too. Having pleasant moments, too, is a part of being human.

We must avoid, for our part as pacifists or proponents of Just War, the error that declaring that we are saved is enough. To be peace-loving, we must not only think peace, we must live and act it. The problem is not anger, frustration, or despair: it is what we do with it. Do we shut it away and act as if it is not so? I think not. We understand the pain, speak to it, and relieve it. We do not allow anyone to cause it. The fine examples come from the lives of the saints of many faiths who have faced the sickness of their fellow men, spoken to it, and yet still loved them.

Dare to doubt that all is well. Dare to believe that things can be better.