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Good morning. When I was young I read about the principle of pacifism. I didn’t know what it meant, and asked my father, who told me it was a commitment to never to use violence in any circumstance.

He told me a story about when he and his friend went to a dance where they were accosted by three drunks who wanted to fight them. My father implored his friend, an avowed pacifist, to run, but his friend stood with him and both were beaten up.

My father greatly valued his friend’s commitment to his principle, who, although a pacifist, had the courage to stand with him in the face of violence. A true friend indeed, he thought, with more fortitude than my father thought he could muster.

My father was not a pacifist but he did follow a similar principle of non-violence, inspired by Gandhi. Later in life I came to know this principle as ahimsa. Ahimsa means to act in a way that causes the least harm. It’s not pacifism because it recognises times when you may have to use force to defend those you love.

A life of ahimsa includes avoiding violence, cruel words, or distressing others. It’s a principle that informs all our relationships – our friendships – and which defines character.

A spiritual person will not be cruel or take another life because it displeases God. Practically it means that as we pray for kindness, we also need to show kindness. That’s why it takes courage practise ahimsa. That’s why we make it a principle in our lives, a red-line we don’t want to cross.

Dear Lord, my father’s friend, who later became a Franciscan Friar, showed the courage and incredible self-confidence it takes to follow our principle, and what it means to be a friend. He was from a different religion, with a different principle, but I pray for the strength to follow such example. Hare Krishna