A Dream Realized!
September 9, 2020
MICHAEL NAGLER REFLECTS ON THE PREMIERE OF THE THIRD HARMONY DOCUMENTARY FILM BELOW.
Dear friends,
My heart is full of love, hope, and gratitude as our long-awaited film is having its world premiere at the Illuminate Film Festival and friends are already writing to us with such enthusiastic greetings:
I got my notification just after midnight that the movie was available to watch, so I just sat down and watched it all. I’m filled with such hope for the first time in a long time. It is a beautiful film on every level (aesthetically, narratively, etc etc) that conveys these ideas in such a straightforward and powerful way. I truly can not wait to use it with students! . . . Looking forward to the panel discussion on Saturday. Bravo!!!
Since I can’t improve on those words from a friend and colleague, let me just point out that the panel she refers to will be 5:30 pm Pacific this Thursday, and features Rajmohan Gandhi, Erica Chenoweth, and Clay Carson. There is also a “Reel Healing” conversation with Marianne Williamson on the Illuminate site available to those who’ve bought a ticket to the film + panel.
While we designed the film (run-time 44 minutes) for schools and colleges, and teachers are already showing a lot of eagerness to use it, (a curriculum guide will be ready soon), it’s a general introduction to nonviolence and its situation in the “new story” of human nature that should be of use, not to mention of inspiration, to beginners and experienced practitioners alike. It’s the first film, as far as we know, to really explore the intuitive connection between the practical aspects of nonviolence — the last part shares five steps anyone can follow — and its deep implications for who and what we think we are as human beings.
It has long been our belief at Metta that the key leverage point for changing humanity from its disastrous course is the uplifting of the human image from that of a separate material fragment adrift in a meaningless universe to an evolving spiritual being inseparable from others and the rest of creation, endowed with the privilege and responsibility of playing our role, individually and together, in the unfolding of human destiny.
Over the last few years, we’ve come to see more and more that the uniting of activists and spiritual practitioners, the fusion of the search for nonviolence, and the search for a new story, is the missing link to add critical momentum to the ongoing struggles for social change. In this exploration, nonviolence emerges as both the missing link in the completion of the new story and the tool to install that as the overarching paradigm guiding our steps out of the existential dangers of racial violence, economic distortion, and climate disruption to a new world.
I am more convinced than ever that this film will make a difference. And it could not be more needed. Please see for yourself, and help us spread the word.
Warmest greetings,
Michael
