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Christianne Squires is an intern spiritual director through the Audire School for Spiritual Direction and is completing an MA in spiritual formation through Spring Arbor University. She is a writer who lives in Winter Park, FL, with her husband and their two cats.

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My Backstory

Explore more of my story on my previous blog, “Lilies Have Dreams.”

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A Prayer from St. Teresa of Avila

Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.

Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion must look out on the world.

Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good.

Yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.

My Prayer of Mission: Isaiah 61:1-3

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

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Journey Toward Nonviolence: A Series of Growth

The following is a chronological listing of all the posts to date in the “Journey Toward Nonviolence” series:

 

Journey Toward Nonviolence: The Backstory

In October 2008, I encountered an idea that simply would not let me go. It was the idea that love is the only transforming force powerful enough to overcome violence.

The more I thought on this idea with respect to my own personal journey of growth and healing, the more I could see it was true. Love was the only reality that ever truly healed and transformed the scarred and battered places inside my heart and soul. Furthermore, it was the only reality that changed me from the inside out and made me more compassionate and loving in return. 

But in the original context of this idea as I’d encountered it, the author had applied it to whole social systems. I found myself asking: Could love really overcome violence in the broader world? Could it really change the course of history? 

I wasn’t so sure. 

Then in January 2009, I read several books on social justice that intimated this same idea. These books mentioned the same names over and over again in connection with this idea: Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa, to name just a few. 

These were individuals who had actually lived out this ethic of love to bring about social change. It had really happened through their brave lives of leadership and integrity.

I decided I needed to learn more, so I committed an entire year to studying the great peacemakers of history who embodied this ethic of love and brought greater life and peace to our world. 

It is a journey that has deepened my story, challenged my character, and utterly changed the course of my life.

Now I am sharing that journey with you.

This “Journey Toward Nonviolence” series chronicles the steps of my year-long study and contemplation of nonviolence and peacemaking. It is also a series that invites you to embark upon a similar journey for yourself. Each posting includes stories, snippets from my personal journals, and a personal question for you to consider as you travel along this road.

I look forward to learning alongside you in this journey toward love, nonviolence, and peace.