A Home for My Loving Action

For most of my adult life, I’ve struggled to find a political home where my faith is welcome and a faith community where my politics are welcome. In recent years, however, I’ve found a home for my loving action in the faith-based anti-war movement, specifically the Palestinian solidarity organization Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and the more recently formed Christians for a Free Palestine (CFP). Like many faith-led social movements, a hallmark of many JVP demonstrations is the use of song as a component of nonviolent direct action. We disrupt “business as usual,” not just with chants and blockades but also with something beautiful—something that, at its best, demonstrates an alternative vision for the world that comes closer to the kingdom of God. 

After a recent action, a friend was expressing their frustration that our singing protest did not match the urgency of the moment. I agreed, to some extent, but I also couldn’t deny that the action was incredibly moving and Spirit-filled. And we did effectively cut short a hate-filled keynote speech at a conference sponsored by the military-industrial complex. Not only that, but we had countless constructive conversations with bystanders (and even some conference attendees) who were curious about our protest and drawn in by our song. 

I’ve always had complicated feelings about nonviolent direct action. So often, in the middle-class white Quaker communities I grew up in, a shallow understanding of nonviolence was used to shame and discredit oppressed people’s natural reactions to their own oppression. In many of my political communities, nonviolence is still dismissed entirely as complacency.  

However, I’ve come to believe that Jesus of Nazareth advocated nonviolence as a strategic tool for two reasons. The first is that in Jesus’ historical context, much like today, the state had a monopoly on violence. From a pragmatic standpoint, those opposing state violence had to take another approach. The second reason is that Jesus was practicing prefigurative politics: “the deliberate experimental implementation of desired future social relations and practices in the here-and-now.” [1] The vision of society Jesus advocated would have no use for violence, so it was essential that his movement demonstrated that an alternative was possible.  

Every liberation movement I’ve studied or participated in has been so focused on resisting repression and mitigating harm that we’ve struggled to articulate a positive vision of the future we’re fighting for. Grounding our movements in connection to God can help us better envision this future, and drawing from our faith traditions of prayer and song can help us bring others into our vision. Fr. Richard Rohr wrote in Jesus’ Alternative Plan: The Sermon on the Mount, “Remember this: There are always two worlds. The world as it operates is power; the world as it should be is love. The secret of kingdom life is how we can live in both—simultaneously.” [2]  

Christ’s revolutionary message teaches us that we answer to a higher authority than that of our current political system, and I’m grateful that I’ve found a community that operates under this fundamental, radical understanding. By incorporating art, song, and prayer into our protest, we not only envision but embody the kingdom of God. By offering this alternative to the status quo of empire, starting with our most visible public actions, we invite others into solidarity and loving action. 

[1] Paul Raekstad and Sofa Saio Gradin, Prefigurative Politics: Building Tomorrow Today (Polity Press, 2020), 10. 

[2] Richard Rohr, Jesus’ Alternative Plan: The Sermon on the Mount (Franciscan Media, 2022), 44. 

Olivia Chalkley is CAC’s Digital Channel Specialist. She enjoys taking long walks, trying new sourdough recipes, and reading liberation theology. She lives in Philadelphia with her partner and attends both Quaker and Episcopal churches. 

The Center for Action and Contemplation’s mission is to introduce Christian contemplative wisdom and practices that support transformation and inspire loving action. In this issue of the Mendicant, we are honored to share with you articles from five members of CAC’s community about what loving action looks like in their lives. Download a PDF of this issue.