‘Even in darkness, ever-rising joy’

On September 15th, 2001, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh American father, was killed while planting flowers in front of his gas station in Arizona by a man who called himself a patriot. He became the first person killed in hate violence after 9/11. Original artwork by Sunroop Kaur, @loquacious_lines

We have experienced another hard week of gun violence in America. For me, it has been a week of intense emotions – heavy emotions as well as joy and hope.

Just a few days ago, in the wake of the tragic and public assassination of Charlie Kirk, New York Times columnist and PBS commentator David Brooks spoke about the doom loop of the dark passions, which he named as anger, hatred, resentment and the urge to dominate. He said:

“To get out of the dark passion doom loop, there has to be a moment of interruption – where you say, no, I’m stopping this. I’m not partaking. I will respond to hatred with love.” 

How do we escape the doom loop? How do we stop partaking when it is dished up to us from all sides of the media and culture that we swim in?

We humans have an appetite for domination. It is extremely tempting to partake in dehumanization by (pseudo)-righteously dehumanizing the dehumanizers. So many have called our attention to this, including Paulo Freire, Martin Luther King, James Baldwin, Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders of liberation through nonviolence. 

Are we centered deeply enough in Christ to say: “No! I’m stopping this doom cycle.”

Valarie Kaur

I am feeling hope and joy this week as I anticipate hosting Valarie Kaur, a renowned interfaith civil rights leader, lawyer and filmmaker, at Goshen College. Kaur will deliver the annual Beechy Peace, Justice and Reconciliation Lecture on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Umble Center. Kaur’s journey toward Revolutionary Love began 20 years ago today, when her uncle Balbir Singh Sodhi died in the first hate crime following 9/11. He was shot in the back while tending the gas station that was his livelihood.

In the wake of this violence, Kaur chose not to partake in this doom loop. Instead she responded to hatred with love. Through her speaking, writing and activism, she is creating moments of interruption and inviting us to join her. She will be accompanied by an Afghani musician, Qais Essar. You are warmly welcomed to this timely event.

This morning, I received an email from Valarie (to whose social media I subscribe) calling attention to the anniversary of her uncle’s death. She signed off with the phrase Chardi Kala, a Punjabi phrase from the Sikh faith tradition, meaning “even in darkness, ever-rising joy.” 

I pray for ever-rising joy this week, in my heart and yours.

— Rebecca Stoltzfus