Quotable Quotes and Thinky Thoughts
"Victory attained by violence is tantamount to defeat, for it is momentary." ~ Gandhi
Predictable, yes? Ah, but this next one surprised me:
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence." ~ Gandhi
Funny how the A-Team turned into a Craft movie for me, got me thinking Mysteries, labels, Qabala, the role of priestcraft, the role of the warrior and the hearthkeeper, all that stuff. I left feeling rather like a valkyrie, actually.
These two quotes would seem to be in direct opposition to each other, but don't think Mohandas is decrying violence in one statement and advocating it in another. I think they go together beautifully to illustrate the idea of the Warrior, and why I love it so much.
See, someone who likes to fight, likes to hurt, someone who resorts to violence first...that person is a bully, a thug. This person lives only for themselves, and at that end, without purpose. Their fights change nothing, their lives are full of hollow victories that leave no legacy. They leave no cherished memory, and in so doing, they surrender their thread on the Silver Web; they surrender their immortality.
Ah, but a warrior is different. A warrior has a cause. A warrior protects something too fragile and precious to protect itself. A warrior protects something too important to too many souls to be allowed to fail. A warrior is defending the hearth so that the hearthkeeper may keep it warm; he does not fight because he loves violence, but because he loves peace.
And not all harm is done with fists, with weapons, with lives taken. Many do violence and damage in the hearts of others with politics of intolerance, with harsh and painful words, with selfish and short-sighted deeds, with stagnant and egocentic ideas.
And, thank Gods, many warriors take up pens and politics and personal actions to defend themselves and what they love, too.
Another quote from Mohandas Gandhi. "I am Christian, and a Hindu, and a Muslim, and a Jew, and so are all of you."
He's talking about a lot of things in this one. Ideas of national and of human unity. Ideas of history and politics, about being educated in your own multi-culturalism, your own heritage. He's talking about the Silver Web again, in which we are all One; under that idea, we are also all God, as well as the god-worshippers.
But he's also talking about labels.
And I don't like wearing labels. People want to pin all kinds of labels on me, due to my non-conventional marriage and my non-conventional religion. And it's not just from the outsiders, either...in two instances of being annointed clegy, I have been asked to label myself twice, and frankly, it has just not been that tidy; I am too many things, and they all integrate so nicely into a simple label of "me," and I that is one label I don't mind wearing.
But another I do not mind wearing is "warrior." I consider myself one. And I consider it to be one of the fundamental aspects of being a priest of any kind.
And I know so many other warriors...am so PROUD to know and love them all. Many of them are actually in the military, and I hope they do not mind me counting myself as one of them. True, I can't do push-ups all day long; I'm round and flabby and physically weak, and in a physical battle, I am aware I would be a poor soldier. But I hope that a noble and strong heart shows through, that being a soldier and being a warrior are understood to be different things. I hope I have demontrated myself to be a fierce defender of that which I love. I hope I comport myself with gentle, un-arrogant pride, with self-assurance, and with a willingness to sacrifice myself for the well-being of others, and with a love of peace that is as fierce as my strength.
I want to BE the Middle Pillar, to embody Mercy and Severity as one and the same, and to carry the wisdom of the Divine as my crown and the balanced compassion of God as my heart.
Predictable, yes? Ah, but this next one surprised me:
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence." ~ Gandhi
Funny how the A-Team turned into a Craft movie for me, got me thinking Mysteries, labels, Qabala, the role of priestcraft, the role of the warrior and the hearthkeeper, all that stuff. I left feeling rather like a valkyrie, actually.
These two quotes would seem to be in direct opposition to each other, but don't think Mohandas is decrying violence in one statement and advocating it in another. I think they go together beautifully to illustrate the idea of the Warrior, and why I love it so much.
See, someone who likes to fight, likes to hurt, someone who resorts to violence first...that person is a bully, a thug. This person lives only for themselves, and at that end, without purpose. Their fights change nothing, their lives are full of hollow victories that leave no legacy. They leave no cherished memory, and in so doing, they surrender their thread on the Silver Web; they surrender their immortality.
Ah, but a warrior is different. A warrior has a cause. A warrior protects something too fragile and precious to protect itself. A warrior protects something too important to too many souls to be allowed to fail. A warrior is defending the hearth so that the hearthkeeper may keep it warm; he does not fight because he loves violence, but because he loves peace.
And not all harm is done with fists, with weapons, with lives taken. Many do violence and damage in the hearts of others with politics of intolerance, with harsh and painful words, with selfish and short-sighted deeds, with stagnant and egocentic ideas.
And, thank Gods, many warriors take up pens and politics and personal actions to defend themselves and what they love, too.
Another quote from Mohandas Gandhi. "I am Christian, and a Hindu, and a Muslim, and a Jew, and so are all of you."
He's talking about a lot of things in this one. Ideas of national and of human unity. Ideas of history and politics, about being educated in your own multi-culturalism, your own heritage. He's talking about the Silver Web again, in which we are all One; under that idea, we are also all God, as well as the god-worshippers.
But he's also talking about labels.
And I don't like wearing labels. People want to pin all kinds of labels on me, due to my non-conventional marriage and my non-conventional religion. And it's not just from the outsiders, either...in two instances of being annointed clegy, I have been asked to label myself twice, and frankly, it has just not been that tidy; I am too many things, and they all integrate so nicely into a simple label of "me," and I that is one label I don't mind wearing.
But another I do not mind wearing is "warrior." I consider myself one. And I consider it to be one of the fundamental aspects of being a priest of any kind.
And I know so many other warriors...am so PROUD to know and love them all. Many of them are actually in the military, and I hope they do not mind me counting myself as one of them. True, I can't do push-ups all day long; I'm round and flabby and physically weak, and in a physical battle, I am aware I would be a poor soldier. But I hope that a noble and strong heart shows through, that being a soldier and being a warrior are understood to be different things. I hope I have demontrated myself to be a fierce defender of that which I love. I hope I comport myself with gentle, un-arrogant pride, with self-assurance, and with a willingness to sacrifice myself for the well-being of others, and with a love of peace that is as fierce as my strength.
I want to BE the Middle Pillar, to embody Mercy and Severity as one and the same, and to carry the wisdom of the Divine as my crown and the balanced compassion of God as my heart.