Willingness - I am here

 " I have come to believe that nonviolence equals infinite willingness, where the only reason to not respond to a need is because of capacity or purpose. Not because of lack of willingness.

· When I'm not willing to do something, it means I'm not fully connected to that infinite willingness within me.

There is a range of willingness

· Finding willingness is on a range of effort. Sometimes willingness is easy, it flows out of us and

sometimes willingness takes a lot of effort, and it's the latter that requires will.

· Example: Imagine someone who as a child was forced to do things they didn’t want to do.

Eventually, their automatic response to being asked to do something becomes a “No”. Finding willingness is an effort. One day, they realize their instinctive No is a trauma response and they decide they want to be in give and take with other humans, in a flow of resources. They need some effort to settle their nervous system and find the willingness that comes from a longer term desire for liberation.

Hineni

·I want to link it back to leadership and non violence and that starts with infinite willingness.

·I want to introduce the Hebrew word Hineni, which has been adopted by some Christian communities. It literally means “I am here”. It's responding to a summons from God. I am here,meaning I am coming to serve. In the biblical religious context, it came to mean obedience but I see it more as an act of surrender to life which is at the heart of non violence.

Mobilization: Responding to the Call of Our Times

· This is the energy of Hineni: I am here. I will do my part. I will even do more than my part because others are not doing their part. I will do what is needed and I will keep doing it for as long as necessary and for as long as I have capacity.

· It's the loving no matter what. It's the rising up from the ashes one more time. It’s the essence of the leadership I'm talking about.

Miki Kashtan - responding to the call of our times 2024