On the memorial of Gandhi’s assasination

While reading a book I picked up from our bookshelf, The Spiritual Basis of Satyagraha by Ravindra Varma, I came across this quote from General Smuts, who happened to consider Gandhi his opponent during the Satyagraha movement in South Africa:

It was my fate to be the antagonist of a man for whom even then I had the highest respect. His activities at the time were very trying to me. For him, everything went according to plan. For me, the defender of law and order, there was the usual trying situation, the odium of carrying out a law which had not strong public support, and finally the discomfiture when the law had to be repealed. For him, it was a successful coup. Nor was the personal touch wanting. In jail, he had prepared for me a pair of sandals which he presented to me when he was set free. I have worn these sandals for many a summer since then, even though I may feel I am not worthy to stand in the shoes of so great a man.

This year marks the 74th year since Mahatma Gandhi was martyred on his way to a prayer meeting in Delhi, on January 30, 1948. We honor Gandhi's message and legacy by continuing his work for nonviolence, symbolized by the spinning wheel, the central feature of his constructive resistance. You can see the wheel in Metta's logo. May we link our lives to the living spirit of Truth, which was for Gandhi, God itself.