Isaiah,
Chapter 54, verse 10:
Though
the mountains fall away and the hills be shaken, My love shall never
fall away from you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the LORD,
who has mercy on you.
God was telling the Israelites
that they and we have a perpetual covenant of peace in and through the messiah;
which is Christ Jesus. Why was the Jewish leadership not able to recognize the
promise of the covenant? The simple answer is that they did not believe most
likely due to generations’ of captivity; first by the Babylonians, then by the
Greeks and later by the Romans. They had lost all hope and respect. A person of
honor and respect keeps promises.
·
He
says that he was wrathful towards Israel for a moment ("lots of
moments!" grumble some of the Israelites), but will now redeem it with
everlasting love. It's the same situation as Noah faced. After the flood, God
promised never to inundate the world again. And he kept his promise.
·
Whatever
else falls apart and falls away, God says that his love won't.
·
God
will deck Israel's foundations with jewels and make sure that its children will
prosper and be instructed by God.
·
Oppressors
won't come near again. If they do, they won't be sent by God and will fall when
they confront God's people. So, they won't get around to the whole
"oppressing" bit.
·
God
will give them the weapons they need to defend themselves. He'll make sure that
they won't be confused by the people who try to judge and deceive them.
Gandhi could not harm a soul, but his heart would
not yield to power, and would triumph over the empire that opposed him. It
would have been hard to see any greatness in him as a boy or even later as an
English-educated lawyer, practicing a profession without the necessary skills
to impress anyone as an advocate or, for that matter, to make any impression at
all. His first appearance in court was a disaster. His shyness was so extreme
that he couldn’t open his mouth to argue his case. Yet he would find his voice,
a voice like no other, a voice so compelling—not for its resonance or
eloquence, but for the decent convictions it expressed—that he would become one
of the most important figures of the twentieth century, and an
inspiration to countless crusades for justice on all the continents of the
earth. Gandhi’s character showed a sense of honor: respect for all human life,
which began with self-respect. At his first appearance in a court, dressed in
an English suit but now wearing an Indian turban rather than a top hat, Gandhi
was instructed to remove his headgear, for Indians were forbidden to wear
turbans in court. Gandhi refused and angrily left the court, feeling
humiliated. Gandhi afterward wrote to a newspaper, defending his right to dress
in the custom of his countrymen. “The question was very much discussed in the
papers,” he recalled, “which described me as an ‘unwelcome visitor.’ ” The shy,
awkward Gandhi had begun to find his voice, and his calling: a lifelong campaign
for justice based, as all true justice must be, on respect for the
natural rights and dignity of all human beings.
Mahatma
Gandhi’s gentle approach to life is testament to the fact that strength does
not equal physical capacity. In the western world, we are often taught that to
be strong, we must be ferocious and
vehemently go after what we want in life. Mahatma Gandhi showed that this
approach is flawed. His life story has proven that it’s possible to remain
gentle in spirit, yet simultaneously command a huge amount of strength and
respect. In a world in which authority is valued over authentic leadership, I
believe we have a lot to learn from the man who fought for a nation with his
mind alone.
Gandhi’s
philosophy was not purely based on theory; instead he lived by rules of
pragmatism. He practiced what he preached every day of his life.
- “Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.”
- “A man is but a product of his
thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.”
- “Be the change that you want to
see in the world.”
- “The weak can never forgive.
Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.”
- “I will not let anyone walk
through my mind with their dirty feet.”
- “Strength does not come from
physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
- “An ounce of patience is worth
more than a tonne of preaching.”
- “Change yourself – you are in
control.”
- “See the good in people and
help them.”
- “Without action, you aren’t
going anywhere.”
- “Take care of this moment.”
- “Be congruent, be authentic, be
your true self.”
- “Continue to grow and evolve.”
- “A no uttered from the deepest
conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ uttered merely to please, or worse, to
avoid trouble.”
- “Glory lies in the attempt to
reach one’s goal and not in reaching it.”
- "An eye for an eye will
make the whole world blind.”
- “Happiness is when what you
think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
- “A coward is incapable of
exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.”
- “Nobody can hurt me without my
permission.”
- “In a gentle way, you can shake
the world.”
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