Posts by Stephanie Van Hook

“Gandhi’s promise and challenge”–Daily Metta

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December 31: “I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith.” –Gandhi (Harijan, October 3, 1936) Anyone. All of us. That is what Gandhi is telling us about the force… read more

“Nonviolence transforms hostility”–Daily Metta

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December 30: “Nonviolence to be worth anything has to work in the face of hostile forces.” –Gandhi (Harijan, March 20, 1937) It was a tense situation. The Meta Peace Team was at work at an annual Neo-nazi rally in Ann Arbor, and there were always people who hated Nazis who could get extremely worked up.… read more

“What lies behind”–Daily Metta

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December 29: “True art takes note not merely of form but also of what lies behind.” –Gandhi (The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, p. 56)   The word ‘nonviolence’ can sometimes conjure up notions of austerity and discipline (I’m thinking of a toothless and tireless Gandhi post-fasting). But that discipline is only so that we can… read more

“More than India’s freedom”–Daily Metta

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December 28: “Our struggle does not end so long as there is a single human being considered untouchable by his birth.” –Gandhi (Mahatma, Vol. 3, p.239)   If anyone still thought that Gandhi was only a strategist wanting political freedom from the British, these words of the Mahatma should put that idea to rest. Hi… read more

“Join the experiment”–Daily Metta

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December 27: “Those who are attracted to nonviolence, should, according to their ability and opportunity, join the experiment.” –Gandhi (Harijan, August 11, 1940) If you heard these words directly from Gandhi in 1940, would you take them more seriously than if you were reading them today? Gandhi’s call was as relevant then as now. We,… read more

“What do you want the most?”–Daily Metta

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December 25: “The force of the spirit is ever progressive and endless. Its full expression makes it unconquerable in the world.” –Gandhi (Harijan, February 10, 1946) The other day at school, my six year-old friend Ben came over to me with a few questions that were on his mind about Gandhi. For the past year,… read more

“Profuse shower of love”–Daily Metta

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December 24: “It is a heavy downpour of rain which drenches the soil to fullness, likewise only a profuse shower of love overcomes hatred.” –Gandhi (Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. XIV, p. 402) In Chapter Four of Search for a Nonviolent Future, Michael Nagler compares violence to the weather. “The weather,” he says, “is… read more

“Gandhi’s bold statement”–Daily Metta

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December 23: “Western democracy, as it functions today, is diluted Nazism or Fascism.” –Gandhi (Harijan, May 18, 1940) Gandhi made this rather harsh remark in a discussion with an American friend on the topic of nonviolence and democracy. Gandhi was convinced that democracy could only be saved through nonviolence. Note the date, 1940, and the… read more