by Carl Kabat

February 1998

"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world.  Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."  -Margaret Mead

"Open wide the prison gates and we must enter them as a bridegroom enters the bridal chambers.  Peace, justice and freedom are to be won only inside prison walls and sometimes on Gallows, never in council chambers, courts, or in the school room." -Gandhi

When I read the above quotes I feel a surge of joy and enthusiasm.  We do not have to raise millions of dollars to become senators or representatives and we do not have to convert the majority of American or world people to our way of thinking in order to change the present violent, unjust system.

My enthusiasm -the word comes from "in God ism" - and joy is nourished by the fact of the six Prince of Peace Plowshares and others, who are willing to enter the prison gates as the bridegroom enters the bridal chambers.  

As one who believes in God, I see the example of Jesus and the twelve doing God's will, as an example that I should attempt to follow.  I am not a writer, and not that much of a talker, so I regard myself more as a do-er.  I attempt to figure out what should be done, do it, and then in my nonliterate way sing and dance until the next go around.

With age, my voice has become less forceful, sometimes cracks, and in singing may even be slightly off key.  My legs are not as limber for dancing as they used to be, so now I tend to the slow waltz of jokes, sometimes childish (Why don't ducks fly upside down? Because they would quack up), constant teasing, and sixty-four-year-old basketball games, along with my other activities.

Being blind in one eye, and because of a torn tendon, somewhat club footed, I have reached thepoint in basketball where if the opposition is too good, I talk them into playing Kabat rules - one foot in the paint when they are on defense and such like - and can generally talk myself into winning my share of games.

I do believe that life, justice, and peace are experiences to be lived and not problems to be solved - and even though we are concerned with serious things, that does not mean that we should not rejoice in God's goodness to us.  St. Paul tells us we should "rejoice in God always."

I am not at all sure how I would react if it was a matter of giving my life in a literal sense, but since I know that there are three possible responses - fight, flight, or a nonviolent response - my guesstimate is that they would have to run rather fast to catch me.

It seems paradoxical to "rejoice in God always" and yet be so serious that folks around us might well think that someone must have recently died in our families.  There is no question that we are concerned about serious matters, but if we leave God out and expect to do everything ourselves we are probably setting ourselves up for a very grave disappointment.  If we do things as if everything depends on us and also do things as if everything depends on God, we will not be disappointed.

"It is not in the school rooms, council chambers and courts that peace, Freedom and justice are to be won", so "open wide the prison gates and enter them as the bridegroom enters the bridal chambers."

Following the example of Jesus, we have the six Prince of Peace Plowshares.  Is there another six out there?  Even five would do since one of the twelve kind of finked out.

[Carl Kabat, OMI, will be released to a half-way house this summer after four and one half years in prison for disarming nuclear missile silos in North Dakota and Missouri.]

back to Reflections
back to The Nuclear Resister, #112

last updated July 10 1998