March 7:

“So long as the superstition that men should obey unjust laws exists, so long will their slavery exist. And a nonviolent resister alone can remove such as superstition.”

–Gandhi (Hind Swaraj, p. 92)

In The Search for a Nonviolent Future, Michael Nagler recounts the story of one of his personal heroes, Catholic priest, Father Kolbe. Known as the Saint of Auschwitz, Kolbe is remembered as having saved the lives of thousands of people in the death camp. How did he do it? When ten prisoners were being chosen at random to die a slow death of starvation, Kolbe offered to die in the place of one of them, and he did. This act of courage resonated throughout the camp, giving people encouragement to keep living, and in Auschwitz, such an act had a very powerful effect, as it was not the miserable food or shelter that kept people alive; it was faith and the will to live. Gandhi would say that his unique form of  resistance broke through the superstition propping up the most unjust law there is — that violence must have the last say. The man whose life he spared went on to live until he was 93.

Experiment in Nonviolence:

Learn the story of Father Kolbe. If you could ask him a question, what would it be?

Daily Metta 2015, a service of the Metta Center for Nonviolence, is a daily reflection on the strategic and spiritual insights of Mahatma Gandhi in thought, word and deed. As Gandhi called his life an “experiment in truth,” we have included an experiment in nonviolence to accompany each Daily Metta. Check in every day for new inspiration. Each year will be dedicated to another wisdom teacher.