May 7:

“My seventy years’ experience has taught me that the truly great are often those of whom and of whose greatness the world knows nothing during their lifetime.”

–Gandhi (Harijan, 12-10-1938, p. 77)

We have all heard of the grave of the Unknown Soldier, but have you come across a national monument to the Unknown Peacemaker? We should have one in every town and city across our country because all of us have in some way been moved and inspired by this person. Maybe it was a grandmother, whose gentle words taught you confidence in yourself. Maybe it was a teacher whose name you can’t remember today but she encouraged you to think more deeply or gently about a relationship; maybe it was a colleague who listened to you–really listened–day after day, or that total stranger who kept you out of harm’s way.

This person is inside all of us, as well, and each day, our deeds and actions (and Gandhi would say even thoughts) ripple out from us into the lives of those we encounter. This interconnection, this unconscious form of service, is the gift that’s given all of us, just for having lived.  And its work goes on and on, as Gandhi says, “like radium,” which was used for curing cancers in those days: invisible but unstoppable in its healing work.

Experiment in Nonviolence:

The next time you have the opportunity to be of service to someone, take it, even if they are not grateful or aware of it. Your action could have a more profound effect than you realize.

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.