Gene Stoltzfus was a remarkable man who through his writing and his life taught me about non-violence.
He lived it, he walked and lived with those in conflicts.
My condolences to his family and the CPT staff. The remarkable story of his life can be found here.
Gene was 70 and died of a heart attack in his home town of Fort Francis Ontario March 10.
His work training peace makers, conflict resolution and coming along side will carry on.
His blog Peace
Probe is a must read for anyone who take the commands of Jesus seriously.
Today we are placed on the earth as Christians in a time when there is a fierce struggle for the our souls. It is good to occasionally check in with the people in our ancestry who thought there were things worth living and dying fcr. Their lives – allbeit in historical periods with very different world views – help us get a hold on the deeper meaning of the life, faith and world wide perspectives waiting to be revealed within us. Their lives also helps us to get back to the often analyzed but rarely lived Gospel which describes the power of light, which I take to be the light of God or if you please the God world view. Light is always more powerful than darkness. Telling truth when everyone is around you is lying is dangerous but very powerful. Once that truth is out, it is almost impossible to stop it. Something has to be done. Either you get rid of the truth teller or you start rumors. In modern times you can use the media for this. The truth teller is naive, misled or ungrateful to the military that is the source of power.
It should not surprise us that peacemakers who are killed in dangerous situations evoke hostile responses. Most of our world does not yet function out of a world view that is confident that light will prevail and that light flows through our material bodies and beyond. Such a perspective is an irritant. But we know the perspective of light points to a hopeful way out of violence by reminding us that we may not be chained forever to the limits of our material imaginations.
His life was story told by God (H.C. Anderson)
The test of martyrdom is whether that particular witness to the truth helps to support and sustain the community’s commitment to a full-bodied vision of peace and justice. The martyrs are present with us and may be more powerful for their witness in death than they ever could have been in life. Gene Stolttzfus March 10, 2010
“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.
Enter into the joy of your master.” Matthew 25:23 (ESV)
Thank you Gene for getting in the way.
