No. 65 The Enemy

Facilitator______________
Date___________________

Group Session Plan from FUSN (developed by Ros Winsor and Holly Zeeb)

Chalice/Candle Lighting

Opening Words:

The threat of the Other is grounded upon a profound and universal human need. It is intrinsic to human bonding. We cannot define who “we” are without also defining “them”—those who are not “us.” “They” need not be perceived as threatening: “they” may be seen only as different from “us”—from our family, our community, our nation: “they” are others who do not “belong”. But if “they” are seen as threatening to us, then our own internal bonding will be all the stronger.
Edward Thompson Beyond the Cold War

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
Matthew. V, 44

Our men, as if from mere habit, began to sing Christians Awake! And then the Christian did awake in English and in German, and they were no longer German or English to each other, but men. It was not done by an effort or with fear and suspicion and awkwardness. It happened as if it were a change of weather, the sun coming out after a storm; and when it happened it seemed more natural even than wonderful. What was unnatural was the former state of war in which men had been to each other not men but targets and now they had come to life for each other, and in a moment they were friends.
A.Clutton-Brock, “Christmas 1914”

Check-in/Sharing

Topic/Activity:
What does the concept of ‘enemy’ mean to you? Who in your life have you considered an enemy and how have you felt about and dealt with this enmity? Where do you stand in relation to those whom your community, society, or nation has identified as its enemies? Is there some belief or perspective that underlies your definition and experience of “enemy,” or a personal experience that crystallizes your own learning here?

Select the topic and location for the next meeting

Check-out

Closing Words:

Genuine spiritual practice requires us to learn how to stop the war. . . The inner stillness of a person who truly “is peace” brings peace to the whole interconnected web of life, both inner and outer. To stop the war, we need to begin with ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi understood this when he said:

I have only three enemies. My favorite enemy, the one most easily influenced for the better, is the British Empire. My second enemy, the Indian people, is far more difficult. But my most formidable opponent is a man named Mohandas K. Gandhi. With him I seem to have very little influence.
Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart