Day 131 Calm Trouble

Find your calm.

The world is scary out there.  Trump’s base think their liberty and way of life is being threatened.  Liberals think their liberty and way of life is being threatened.

How silly, they each think the same and cannot figure out, as civilized human beings, how to work together.

It’s not silly any more. [See posts Four and Distress].

And Donald Trump and his lies, his lying videos, and his lying, corrupt followers keep chaos and division their game to manipulate his base and the rest of us to keep us divided and emotional over our rights and way of life.

So people are protesting— WallofMoms, BlackLivesMatter, Secret Police. That is their constitutional right.

Remember John Lewis?

See the documentary and this discussion.

This is what the protestors need to learn:

resistance that is nonviolent wins

that’s good trouble

Every time protestors vandalize and use violence, even non-lethal violence, they play into Trump’s hands– Trump and his army of video liars, sycophants, and his base. They will use it against you. They will video all of it and claim it against you through distortion of the facts.

STOP!   Learn non-violent resistance.

#goodtrouble

 

“Do not get lost in a sea of despair,” Lewis tweeted almost exactly a year before his death.

“Do not become bitter or hostile. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. We will find a way to make a way out of no way.”

Bill Moyers on Democracy

John Lewis: Thank You, Sir. May You Rest in Power. by HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Read and learn from his journey and his book: March

If we gather together in peace and non-violence, then we, too, will find a way to make a way out of no way.

What does non-violence mean?

From the King Institute:

Nonviolence Principles:

[note: formatting is mine]

King’s notion of nonviolence had six key principles.

First, one can resist evil without resorting to violence.

Second, nonviolence seeks to win the “friendship and understanding” of the opponent, not to humiliate him (King, Stride, 84).

Third, evil itself, not the people committing evil acts, should be opposed.

Fourth, those committed to nonviolence must be willing to suffer without retaliation as suffering itself can be redemptive.

Fifth, nonviolent resistance avoids “external physical violence” and “internal violence of spirit” as well: “The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent but he also refuses to hate him” (King, Stride, 85). The resister should be motivated by love in the sense of the Greek word agape, which means “understanding,” or “redeeming good will for all men” (King, Stride, 86).

The sixth principle is that the nonviolent resister must have a “deep faith in the future,” stemming from the conviction that “The universe is on the side of justice” (King, Stride, 88).

WHY?

 “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. The beauty of nonviolence is that in its own way and in its own time it seeks to break the chain reaction of evil” (King, Where, 62–63).  [King Institute]

So, I repeat:  Find your calm and fight the fight in the #goodtrouble of nonviolence. It is truly the only way to achieve justice and peace.  Anything else is like Trump, filled with evil and vitriol that leads to darkness.

Peace and justice for all.

Stay safe. Stay distant. Wear a mask. Wash your hands.

Find your calm in love; resist through nonviolence.