It is said that history repeats itself. Certainly it will if we do not learn from it.

This week we honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who used the teachings of nonviolence to bring attention to the injustice waged on his brothers and ultimately regained their rights. Today, another struggle with injustice is rising.

The story of this struggle against inequality and prejudice is long.

Our ancestors from the Jewish nation knew what it meant to be dominated by a privileged few. Their history was rife with incidents of loss of freedom. Two thousand years ago, they were under the rule of a controlling emperor in Rome. They looked for the return of the kingdom promised by God and the prophets, waiting for the Davidic king to come. Instead, they were sent a humble healer, who preached compassion, and nonviolence. Finally, he would join many of their own who resisted the oppressive government, dying a torturous death designed to silence rebellion. But his voice of truth was so strong, so consistent, that it did not die, but resurrected in a movement of brotherly love that could not be quelled.

India had a similar history. The country was colonized by Britain and its resources used to enrich the elite in the west, while its people had few rights.  Within this time came Mohandas Gandhi, a simple lawyer who noticed the suffering of his neighbors. He used his craft to speak for those who had no voice. Though from the upper class, he lived with the poor, embracing the plight of his brothers.

Gandhi studied how violence and oppression had been successfully resisted by persistent, collective nonviolence. For this he looked to the teachings of Jesus in the gospel, Leo Tolstoy and the wisdom of the ancient Indian sages. He knew there was a fundamental truth that moved the universe, and that truth could not be overcome; it must ultimately win. Gandhi called this principle Satyagraha (suh-tee-AH-gruh-huh), meaning “firmly holding to Truth”. Satyagraha is more than just a passive resistance, it is a dynamic way of life, an intent to hold always to love and the good of all. Gandhi said that if a collective people nonviolently held to the truth of their God given rights and dignity, without hatred, without backing down, that truth could not be denied. Satyagraha renounces all forms of violence, using the power of love instead of force.

Gandhi became known as he took up this way of non violent simple living, first in himself and then in all his relations. He used this same principle to teach the Indian people to overcome the control of Britain, one of the most powerful countries of the world at that time. It happened without weapons, or anger, employing the principles of Satyagraha and the timeless teachings of Jesus. In 1947, India won back its independence, peaceably removing those who would enslave the people. Later, following Gandhi and inspired by Satyagraha, Martin Luther King used its wisdom to win back dignity for the African American people.

Someone said once that freedom is lost in inches, just a few at a time. Maria Ressa, the Filipino journalist and Nobel Peace prize winner, cautioned us to hold carefully to our freedom and rights, because once taken it is very hard to win back. Today many long accepted freedoms and laws in America are being quietly eroded. The spiritual principles that founded this country, of which we were a proud shining light in the world, are being trampled. We are becoming a country of what Pope Francis called “global selfishness” instead of one nation under God in which all are entitled to life, liberty and happiness. Slowly the rights of the poor and working people are being undermined. Those who were given power to make decisions are eliminating these rights in the name of a better life for all. But the spirit of goodness, mutual compassion for the weak, and inclusion of all is dying. We are becoming a people of indifference, fear, and distrust of our neighbor. Inches are being chipped away from democracy, from the gospel teachings of Jesus, and few are willing to take notice.

Gandhi showed a different way. He showed that the rights of life, liberty and happiness were not the property of another to take but something endowed to human beings by God. Truth is an unshakeable principle, given in the ten commandants, given in the teachings of Jesus, to love your brother as yourself. He showed that all people are equal, and all had the right to live in solidarity in God, with one another and honor their human dignity. People are inherently good, born to live in love, care for one another and their earth home. The adversary is not to be eliminated, but converted to see the truth of our common humanity, where selfishness and violence no longer have the support to exist.

History repeats itself. Will we learn from the examples of Gandhi and King? Will America become a country of selfishness? Or will its people find their essential goodness, inherited from our ancestors. A goodness ashamed to step beyond the values commissioned to us by Jesus: love one another as I have loved you. The road is open before us, and we have the choice to insist on holding firmly to love, or allow hate and selfishness to grow.

We hold the power of God within. We hold the truth of the gospel and the way of love inherited from Jesus.  Holding to truth, we can support one another – caring for the weak, encouraging the young, listening to the wisdom of the old.

With in us is Satyagraha, the principle of love that moves the universe.

For we are not weak humans looking after only our selfish interests.

We are the children of God.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

– Matthew 5: 5-12

– Julia Gauvin