satyagraha

Even though we might be made blind to the evil afoot, we will not be silent. This is the lesson of modern history. We will sing a new song as strangers in a strange land: Let My People Go. While the Egyptians, Israelis, and Americans conspire to keep us from seeing the conditions of life in the world’s largest prison (sorry, no visiting hours this month), there is a chorus, a voice, 43 nations rich, which is lifted in greater harmony and crescendo than ever before to call for raising the siege of Gaza and thereby increasing the security of Israel.

“I do daily perceive that while everything around me is ever changing, ever dying, there is underlying all that change a living power that is changeless, that holds all together, that creates, dissolves, and re-creates. That informing power or spirit is God. I see it as purely benevolent, for I can see in the midst of death, life persists. In the midst of untruth, truth persists. In the midst of darkness, light persists. Hence I gather that God is life, God is light, God is love. God is the supreme good.” Mahatma Gandhi

Tomorrow, Mahatma Gandhi's birthday will be observed and honored across the globe through the International Day of Nonviolence, as initiated by the United Nations. Just a few months before his assassination, which occurred exactly 60 years ago (January 30, 1948), Gandhi delivered a rare speech in English that was recorded. It is one of only two of his speeches delivered in English which is known to have been preserved in audio form (many of his public speeches were given in Hindi or regional Indian dialects), and until recently was basically unknown. Click here to read about that speech and to find a link to listen to it.