My first full-time job was with San Diego Trust & Savings Bank in Escondido. In 1978, our branch was the first one in the system to install an automated teller. Called a "7/24" machine, you could get your balance, or withdraw money. It was HOT.
This, of course, was before the days of direct deposit, the internet, and scanning checks to be deposited on your smart phone. But suddenly you didn't have to stand in line in the bank (between the hours of 10 and 4, thank you) in order to make a withdrawal.
We've come along way. I sometimes find myself feeling a little inconvenienced if the internet moves too slowly, or if I do have to go to the bank and stand in line for 5 minutes. Spoiled? Perhaps.
As you may know, A Season for Non-violence is the annual 64 day campaign celebrating the lives and work of Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King. Non-violence sounds like something governments and countries should do. If they would just _______________
(and feel free to fill in the blank), the world would be a better place.
But I believe that violence is more than just physical. It is also in the ways we treat one other--anger, resentment, bitterness and the need for forgiveness are also forms of violence.
Our decision to be non-violent starts with a willingness to change. Change is most often inconvenient--we may have to do something we have never done before. Giving someone the benefit of the doubt; putting ourselves in their position; being willing to not take their actions personally.
I choose to consciously experience this year's SNV personally, by allowing myself to be inconvenienced, and by being aware of how I can be more loving. Won't you join me?
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