Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.
—St. Francis de Sales
Pray or meditate.
Spiritual strength.
I believe this is a spiritual battle as much as it is a political one. Can we again become a country of freedom, of religious liberty, a country where the truth is respected? Or will we continue to be a country where people are judged according to their religion, where people are treated differently because of their skin color? Are we going to become a country where the fringe ideas of the alt-right become more and more commonplace? Or will we ever be a nation of compassion and fairness for everyone, regardless of their skin color, regardless of their faith and beliefs?
We stand at a crossroads. We as a people will decide whether we remain a place that values freedom and equality, or trade those in for nationalism and the protection of an authoritarian—who protects us from the bogeymen he creates. Equality and freedom are things that we now must fight for, and this fight demands we engage on every level, including the spiritual.
This struggle is not simply one of logic and emotions, it is something bigger. This is the fight of our lifetimes, a crossroads that may only come along every few generations.
Let us engage in this profound fight with everything we have, let us do so because we recognize how much is at stake—the future of freedom, equality, and democracy itself. We fight for what we hold sacred. Because of this I say the Resistance is spiritual, not just politics as usual.
Whatever your spiritual practice may be, now is the time to use it. Let each of us embrace the best that our traditions have to offer, and let each of us strive to make our beliefs give us strength to impact this world, positively, for the world needs compassion and healing now as much as it ever has.
In case you are not quite sure how to approach this idea of spirituality as a form of resistance, here is an easy and effective meditation practice you can try for the action of this chapter. It’s called metta or loving-kindness meditation. It comes from the Dalai Lama, who practices it every day and is probably the practice’s best-known proponent. It is essentially an exercise used to increase empathy, to open up to the world and to others. It can be done in just a few minutes. It is quite simple and easy, since it simply consists of saying this sentence: “May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be free of pain,” while thinking of three different people, one after the other. Loving-kindness meditation is about directing goodwill toward others. That’s it.
Here is how you do it:
Sit in a comfortable position. Start by thinking of someone that you already feel compassion toward while saying (out loud or in your head), “May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be free from pain.” Repeat this three times.
Next, you repeat this but directed toward someone you feel neutral about. It could be anyone, an acquaintance, someone from work, or a person you saw crossing the street today. The idea is that by wishing good health and well-being toward a neutral person you stretch and strengthen your empathy muscles, making you stronger and more flexible.
Finally you can take it a step further, when you are ready, and direct this same loving-kindness toward someone who is a difficult person for you. It could be someone you had an argument with, or it could be someone you have trouble getting along with, or even a bully you fought with in third grade. You get the idea. And yes, you could even direct this loving-kindness toward someone you disagree with politically! Loving-kindness is about expanding the circle of empathy and goodwill that all of us have naturally to include everybody.