I wish you a happy New Year 1998
May the peace of the Lord be with you on your way during these holy days.
May events which are expected, as well as those which come on us unexpectedly,
be for us an occasion to grow as human beings and to better understand our
times.
We will celebrate two anniversaries during the coming year, which could
help us be inventive by awakening our freedom: the commemoration of the
deaths of Mahatma Gandhi (January) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (April).
One day Gandhi picked up a grain of salt from a beach and said, "The
fist that holds this salt can be broken open, but the salt will not be given
back willingly." In this way Gandhi was giving the signal for a peaceful
uprising.
This was on April 6th, 1930.
Martin Luther King, Jr., in his fight against racial segregation, used
to assert, "It is now time to come out of the quicksand of injustice."
In his long walk towards freedom he said with premonition, "The
man who is
afraid to die is not free."
Have a happy New Year as you travel the road of nonviolence accompanied
by the strength of love and truth.
Jacques Gaillot
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