Vows for following the nonviolent Jesus
while living in a warmaking state:

Recognizing the violence in my own heart, yet trusting in the goodness and mercy of God, I vow to practice the nonviolence of Jesus who taught us in the Sermon on the Mount:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons and daughters of God...You have learned how it was said, "You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy," but I say to you, "Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you. In this way, you will be daughters and sons of your creator in heaven."

Before God the Creator and the Sanctifying Spirit, I vow to carry out in my life the love and example of Jesus

• by living, working and resisting in communion with others, by living conscientiously and simply so that I do not deprive others of the means to live; by exercising stewardship, by standing against the violence of consumerism, by a commitment to grow in the spirit of gratitude.

• by striving for peace within myself and seeking to be a peacemaker in my daily life; by striving to love others with a faithful and chaste love, developing just relationships through truthfulness, dialogue, mutuality, tenderness, and intimacy.

• by persevering in nonviolence of tongue and heart; by listening to God as God speaks through other people, creation and events and by growing in a spirit of mutual collaboration.

• by actively resisting evil and working nonviolently to abolish war and the causes of war from my own heart and from the face of the earth; by accepting suffering in the struggle for justice and peace instead of inflicting it ; by refusing to retaliate in the face of provocation and violence ; by a life of daily, intimate, contemplative prayer with the God of peace; by locating my life near, with and among the victims of imperial power, either by sharing food, shelter and clothing with the poor or by living with them in jail or in some comparable way.

God, I trust in your sustaining love and believe that just as you gave me the grace and desire to offer this, so you will also bestow abundant grace to fulfill it.

Susan Crane
Jonah House
November 16, 2004