The Defiance of Compassion (May 22, 2010)
We will not fold to the teachings of our fathers, and their fathers, and their fathers before
them. We will stand defiant in the face of tyranny and in the face of evil. The people who practice
tyranny and hate and evil ways are reflecting the internal state of their beings; they are reflecting
their broken internal lives. We stand in defiance against this form of being. We will not fight this
type of evil with evil. We will not obey the instructions provided to us by our forefathers, because
we stand in defiance of them; We stand in defiance of them because we can see the world that
they have made for us; a world full of tyranny and hate and division. What we stand for today, in
face of what the world wants to give us, is not hate, is not tyranny, what we stand for today is
compassion for those who practice hate and practice tyranny. We can see their broken lives. We
can see the desolate valley of their minds, and we can see the empty desperation in their
souls. We feel compassion for your pain, and we hope that you can come out of your world of
tyranny and of hate. We stand in defiance of who you are and what you represent by showing
compassion toward who you are and what you represent. We stand defiant because we refuse to
continue to live in a world where tyranny and hate and evil exist. We stand in defiance today
because we refuse to live the way you want us to live. We stand in defiance today because we
choose, we choose today to change, we choose to change. We are tired of hatred, we are tired of
division, we are tired of death, we are tired of deceit, we are tired of lies, we are tired of taking the
easy way out. We are tired of following the path that has been taught to us, because we choose
to live in a different world than the one that is in front of us. We stand in defiance today of your
world, of this world. We stand in defiance today of the world that has been handed down to
us. We stand in defiance and we show this defiance by showing compassion. Only in our
compassion can we defy what we see. Only in compassion can we challenge the powerful. Only
in compassion can we redeem our past. Only in compassion can we seek to overthrow the
culture of death and the culture of ignorance. In defiance we stand, and in compassion we
pray. We pray for all of those who practice hate, who practice tyranny, who practice the ways of
death and deceit. We pray for their well being. We pray for the light of the Lord to shine upon
their hearts and to show them a better way. We pray for them and want to let them know today
that a new day has come. That a new day is upon us. That a new day is brewing in our
hearts. And this new day is a day of defiance, because we have been given choice above all
things, we have been given choice. We have been give the choice to be defiant to your ways,
and the only way to show our defiance is through compassion because this is what you most
despise, and this is what you most ignore. We pray for you on this day, that one day we will walk
in peace, that we will walk by the hand chanting the songs of our forefathers, but not the songs
and anthems of war and of death, but the songs that kept us human in the darkest of hours we will
chant for peace and for unity and for community. We will chant for compassion and
cooperation. We will chant for the devil to come out of hiding and to show his face out in the open,
and we will also show compassion for him, for we see his broken life as well. We stand
defiant. We stand defiant. We will not fold. We will not give in. We will not take the easy road
and follow the footsteps that we have been taught, and follow the footsteps of our forefathers, for
we know what kind of a world we have been left with. We will always honor their courage and
their valor, but will stand in defiance of their culture of death. You can take us to our graves, you
can rip out our hearts, you can challenge us, and ridicule us, and use your deceit to manipulate,
but you can never take what we will always give you, that is our compassion and our
love. Because we choose to defy you with compassion, because a new day has come, and a
new day is upon you. May the grace of our Lord always be upon us in his name, Amen.