Howard Thurman & Non-violence

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Friends,

I leave Tuesday for a couple of weeks' vacation in Hawaii as I now feel able to plan a period of rest after the last year of so of cancer treatment. Cathy and I decided that whether or not I was cleared of cancer (and I was for the time being) we would take a long-delayed personal time away from the immediate worry about the cancer status.

During my vacation I am especially looking forward to the opportunity to delve into a couple of books I’ve been saving for the trip. I seldom take on a substantial novel, but I will be reading The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride that interests me because it I expect it to encompass a multi-racial world of a community of, among others, and especially Jews and Blacks, and all the struggles and grace notes in their lives.

And somewhat related, I am most excited about also continuing my slow reflective reading of Howard Thurman’s interracial and prophetic work in a compendium of his writings entitled Howard Thurman: Essential Writings, edited by Luther Smith, Orbit Books, 2006. (Please consider adding this book to your morning inspirational reading.) I hadn’t begun to really know and read about Thurman and his many books until the past two years, and now he has become a favorite in terms of profound wisdom coming from his experience as a Black man rising to be a preeminent national spiritual and civic leader. (I am surprised, given what I now know about his prominent life, that so few people like me knew about him.) I personally appreciate him because he wrote so deeply about all the things I most associate with in my own spiritual journey and writing: bridging the gap between spirituality and social justice, mysticism, nonviolence, and plumbing the dynamics of racism and the whole range of social, political and theological divides. Although he was writing in the mid-20th century (he died in 1981), his assessment of the power dynamics of politics, race, gender, nationalism, and privilege provide me and our contemporary world with both a solid acknowledgement of human brutality, but also a sign of hope that there is a way through the tangle of all the greed and violence of contemporary life through the spiritual practice of nonviolence.

So as I am in the midst of reading into Thurman’s writing, I was completely surprised that the NYTs writer and social commentator David Brooks featured Thurman’s teaching in an inspiring NYTs editorial this week (5/9 - see below) entitled “How to Create a Society That Prizes Decently.” He encapsulates better than I ever could in this limited space the breadth and depth of Thurman’s writing, especially on nonviolence. I strongly suggest that you take the time to read the Brooks op ed piece, even if you have to set sit aside and read it later. I think you will see the consistent themes of my Saturday Evening Posts and understand why I treasure Thurman so deeply.

I want to conclude by offering my own brief reflections in addition to Brooks on what matters most to me in Thurman’s writing. The basic art of teaching and writing is to connect with one’s students and readers in a way that speaks to their condition and offers them the lift of encouragement and hope. As Brooks notes, Thurman is most known for relating the biblical narrative of the poor, Palestinian Jew, Jesus, with the experience of slavery (a major influence in his writing comes from being raised largely by his grandmother who had lived as a slave) and any social or political circumstance that “puts the disinherited against the wall” as cruelly abused and defenseless people. (It is difficult not to think tonight of the besieged people of Gaza living in that condition.) Thurman’s quest is to try to discover how people in that situation can preserve their dignity and soul, and he sees the teaching of Jesus applicable to that searching such a way that it offers hope and affirms personal dignity. I personally have never had to face such a dire situation, so I will not pretend to offer a further reflection more than to acknowledge that much of the impressive history of human enoblement comes from those who were oppressed such as our indigenous people and the courage and bravery of enslaved people. The cherished heart of my own Quaker teachings and tradition arose from nearly forty years of persistent persecution in the 17th century.

Thurman is a master at going from the particular to the general, from personal experience extrapolated out as a potential available to all. He writes movingly of his own search for the significance of religious experience, the hunger for community, and the realization of the true sense of self that gives us the capacity to withstand adversity. Whether we may express our personal and contemporary needs in those terms, they do apply to all of us today. Our faith and practice in our authentic individual lives leads us then to honor and include others which in turn supports all our efforts at pacifism and emphases on equality and social justice activism. 

All moral and ethical teaching comes down to honoring the inclusive spiritual presence in us all, from our individual lives to our lives in community and as a nation.. Evil can thus be defined as neglecting or abusing that requirement. Thurman’s teaching empathizes the expectation that we can learn the techniques of nonviolence that Brooks ably summarizes in his op ed piece. Thurman’s deep wisdom and graced writing help us achieve our goal of living with decency, grace and love in the spirit of nonviolence. And the quest begins with each one of us individually as we also then seek to engage, inform and nurture others.

Peace,
Tom

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