Sunflower #8: Stoplight
“This peace makes us indestructible.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
“Sunflower” posts are to share inspiration about activism. They are to explore our ideals, passions, and motivations.
Like a young sunflower, it is helpful to orient ourselves towards the sun, letting it guide us during hard times of growth. So that when we are grown, we can face proudly east together, to greet the sunrise we know awaits us in the morning. See past Sunflower posts here. Put compassion into action using the Dandelion Report, or Spring Rain posts.
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Dear Friends,
I want to share with you something I experienced yesterday and a short passage from a book that has been inspiring me lately. I hope they encourage you to find the inner peace needed to do the hard work of social action in our time.
Best Wishes,
Chris
It is early afternoon, and I receive a text message. I have been waiting to receive this alert for a while, and today was the first day for it to arrive.
It contains an address, identifying unconfirmed ICE activity in my community, and that someone was possibly already taken by ICE. Ever since I completed my community's “Legal Observer” training, I have been expecting to receive a notification like this.
I am already in my car a few miles away, so delaying lunch, I should be able to get to the alert location to help document the possible ICE activity. Naturally my heart begins to beat faster, the adrenaline kicking in as I realize the possible situations I may be driving towards. I also realize that just a few minutes could make all the difference, as ICE raids can begin and end in minutes. Anger, fear, and anxiety are all coming up like waves. Yet the best I know I can do in this moment is to breathe, to drive safely, and to trust that I will be prepared when I arrive.
When you are rushing, the stoplights can feel intolerable—barriers that carry real consequences. As I cannot make the lights change faster, I have to ask myself if there is any way to use this moment to be more prepared when I arrive. Only two things come to mind: to calm myself and to switch my Crocs into “sport mode.”
So, I return to my breath, trusting that following it mindfully will help me be more calm and clear-headed, allowing me to drive safely and to be of use when I arrive. My heart slows; I feel more solid and prepared. I adjust my shoes. The light turns green, and I drive on, mindful of my breath and my driving.
Another stoplight bars my way. With nothing to do and nowhere to go, I see being present and calm is still the best way for me to be prepared, so I just breathe. The light turns green—I feel more prepared for the unknown as I near my destination.
I arrive, and long story short, the call came in too late; ICE was there earlier in the day. Another legal observer and I gather what details we can, and we have to continue on with our day, knowing that our community has lost another member unjustly. More painful feelings, more breathing.
We must find ways to bear the pain of moments like these, or how can we hope to continue this work? Even if we are ultimately successful in our aims, we indubitably are going to face many failures and challenges on the way.
Still, maybe you are like me, where everything that is happening is weighing heavily on your heart. If so, you may also find the following passage from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book “The Sun My Heart” to be a helpful reminder about the importance of developing inner peace. Even though this book was written in 1988, the message is just as relevant today:
“Everything Depends on Your Peace”
If the earth were your body, you could feel the many areas where there is suffering. War, suppression, and famine wreak destruction in so many places. Many children have become blind from malnutrition. Their hands search through mounds of trash for things they can trade for a few ounces of food. Many adults are dying slowly and hopelessly in prisons. Others are killed for trying to oppose the violence. We have enough nuclear weapons to destroy dozens of Earths, but we continue to manufacture more.
Aware of all of this, how can we withdraw to a forest or even to our own rooms to sit in meditation? The peace we seek cannot be our personal possession. We need to find an inner peace which makes it possible for us to become one with those who suffer, and to do something to help our brothers and sisters, which is to say, ourselves. I know many young people who are aware of the real situation of the world and who are filled with compassion. They refuse to hide themselves in artificial peace, and they engage in the world in order to change the society. They know what they want, yet after a period of involvement they become discouraged. Why? It is because they lack deep, inner peace, the kind of peace they can take with them into their life of action. Our strength is not in weapons, money, or power. Our strength is in our peace, the peace within us. This peace makes us indestructible. We must have peace while taking care of those we love and those we want to protect.
I have recognized this peace in many, many people. Most of their time and effort is spent protecting the weak, watering the trees of love and understanding everywhere. They belong to various religions and cultural backgrounds. I do not know how each of them came to their inner peace, but I have seen it in them. If you are attentive, I am sure you will see it too. This peace is not a barricade which separates you from the world. On the contrary, this kind of peace brings you into the world and empowers you to undertake whatever you want to do to try to help—struggling for social justice, lessening the disparity between the rich and the poor, stopping the arms race, fighting against discrimination, and sowing more seeds of understanding, reconciliation, and compassion. In any struggle, you need determination and patience. This determination will dissipate if you lack peace. Those who lead a life of social action especially need to practice mindfulness during each moment of daily life.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, The Sun My Heart
I think we all walk unique paths to finding this kind of peace that “empowers you to undertake whatever you want to do to try to help.” However, I do think what Thich Nhat Hanh points out here is true—that this peace is not a turning away from the pain of the world, but rather embracing it and doing what we can to help.
How are you finding this type of peace within yourself?
Yesterday, I found some of it waiting at the stoplight.
Thank you for being here,
Chris
Only two things come to mind: to calm myself and to switch my Crocs into “sport mode.” - that made both Dad and I LOL! 😁😂🤣❤️