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Gandhi Look again at Gandhi, suggested Englishman Fr.Timothy Radcliffe, former head of the Dominicans; he enfleshed the Beatitudes in a life that eludes description. How does one man bring a nation of 400 million to liberation, overcome the heartfelt, hell-bent, desire of Winston Churchill to keep India as a jewel of the British Empire. Gandhi is a good meditation for Advent, given his great love for Jesus. I remember him in newsreels as a child, this half naked man in a loin cloth, off to see the King and Prime Minister. When a reporter noted that he wasn’t properly dressed for the occasion, he said the King had enough clothes on for both of them. The insights are gathered from a classic biography of Gandhi by Louis Fischer, who benefited from accompanying Gandhi for a significant time (The Life of Mahatma Gandhi.) Fischer states Gandhi wrestled with three forces: India, Britain and himself. The struggle, as with all of us, began with himself and endured until his last breath. He was married at thirteen to Kasturbai, also thirteen. This premature nuptial engendered in Gandhi a diffidence about the joy of sexuality, even for the married, except to beget children. It propelled him with Kasturbai’s concurrence to celibacy at age 37, which endured till his death. There was a similar process of divesting himself of all material possessions, sometimes to the chagrin of his wife, from a successful barrister to Desert Father simplicity. Their marriage evolved over the years to a profound mutual respect and love, but there were painful struggles. As Fischer notes, in his role as a leader he needed “to be immune to all temptations and in command of all his desires.” The last of the triune religious vows/virtues, obedience was uniquely Gandhian, obedient only to God’s Truth as he understood it at the moment. He was essentially Hindu, but attached to Jesus and open to truth wherever he found it. The seeming rigidity of his life veils the depth of compassion, sweetness and unlimited hospitality to the stranger. His friendships were heartfelt and enduring. And he had a marvelous humor. It was in South Africa, where Gandhi emigrated in 1893 to restart his career as a lawyer, after a dismal beginning in India, that he discovered the power of nonviolence. He set in motion a huge campaign in pursuit of rights for Indians smothered under the heel of colonial Britain. It was a twenty-year struggle that dramatically began when he was literally thrown off a train en-route to Pretoria; he presumed a brown-skinned man (he called himself black) could ride first class, especially when well-appointed in barrister finery. As the charismatic leader of the Indian immigrants to South Africa, resistance included substantial time in prison, which Gandhi often welcomed as a time for reading, prayer, rest and sharing with his fellow prisoners. Prison never seemed to be the deterrent it is for the rest of us, although we too have heroic witnesses in our midst. (I think of Art Laffin and Dan Berrigan, among many, both providentially sharing their thoughts in this issue.) “Fearlessness is the Key to Truth, to God, to Love; it is the king of virtues.” This interior strength was overwhelmingly important in Gandhi’s life. The Boer War, 1899 to1902, between the Dutch settlers and the British, was an early revelation of his willingness to risk death for his beliefs. Surprisingly, although “his sympathies were with the Dutch,” he felt, “since he sought advantages of citizenship . . . he accepted some responsibility for the safety of the British. . . . He organized Indian stretcher bearers and medical orderlies” and “Gandhi led his men on to the battlefield. For days they worked under the fire of enemy guns and carried moaning soldiers back to base hospital.” Some days they walked 25 miles. The nonviolent must be as courageous as the warrior! Hopefully in future issues we can plumb the depths of his life, having only scratched the surface. In closing, early on he declared war on the plight of “untouchables.” Fischer: “Untouchable is exactly that: he must not touch a caste Hindu or anything a caste Hindu touches. . . . Untouchability is segregation gone mad.” As usual, Gandhi didn’t just talk; he welcomed untouchables as members of his ashram and assumed their tasks, cleaning the lavatories of the ashram. One understands why Gandhi was Martin Luther King’s mentor. He is a Christ figure. Joe Bradley |