I do not want the kind of peace that has to pretend the storms of life are not happening. I do not want the kind of peace that must ignore the cries of the oppressed in order to sleep at night. I want my life to be a struggle for justice for my entire human family.
Neither do I want the kind of activism that loses its own heart and mind in the sound and fury of life’s battles. I want to ride this storm without losing what makes me human and becoming the mirror image of the inhumanity I abhor.
I want courageous activism to be like an exhalation and peaceful compassion to be like an inhalation. I want to feel anger at injustice without becoming anger. I want to grieve the world’s wounds without becoming grief.
I do not want the kind of hope that has to pretend everything will work out within my lifespan for my life to have been worthwhile. I want the kind of hope that is satisfied with doing what I can, for whom I can, without needing guarantees of success. I want to know my life matters even if I move from defeat to defeat in my own lifetime.
I want to remember that I do not need to arrive at the goal in my own lifetime to make my contribution. I want to remember that, In an evolving universe, there is no finish line, no “happy ever after.” Instead, finding and walking the path of kindness, courage and nobility is the only victory we can know in this crazy life.
I want to remember that true leadership is not found in getting people to follow me, but in remembering and reminding others that, deep within us all, there is a peace, a joy, a courage and a wisdom available simply because we are human.
I refuse to lose my humanity just because someone else has lost theirs. I see the madness and danger swirling all around us which is exactly why I want to ride this hurricane courageously with my loving heart unmolested in its peaceful eye.