Remembering Tom Fox

With the withdraw of American and Coalition forces from Afghanistan this past summer there is hanging in the air the question - what is required to bring peace in this world?

Perhaps it is helpful to sit a bit with the words of one who gave his life to building peace in the Iraq. Expect no simple answers in his writing. But do expect to know a little of what is required of us when we seek to remain rooted in compassion for all people of this world - walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one -  page 263 of the Nickalls edition of George Fox's Journal.

Thomas William Fox (July 7, 1951 – March 9, 2006) was an American (Chattanooga, TN) Quaker peace activist, affiliated with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Iraq. He was kidnapped on November 26, 2005 in Baghdad along with three other CPT activists, leading to the 2005-2006 Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis. On March 9, 2006, after 104 days of captivity and a month-long separation from fellow hostages Harmeet Sooden, Norman Kember, and James Loney, the body of Tom Fox were found in Baghdad trash heap.

 
Remembering Tom Fox
A reworking of Tom's writing by James Loney (fellow hostage).
Personal notes of Tom Fox - The Middle of Nowhere - CPTner May 10, 2005
Published in Christian Peace Teams vol.xxxi Jan-Mar 2021.

 
The ability to feel the pain of another is central to any kind of peacemaking work. But this compassion is fraught with peril.
A person can experience a feeling of being overwhelmed.
Or, a feeling of rage and desire for revenge.
Or, a desire to move away from the pain.
Or, a sense of numbness that can deaden the ability to feel anything at all.
 
How do I resist the welling up of rage towards perpetrators of violence?
How do I keep from disconnecting from or becoming numb to the pain?
 
After eight months with CPT, I am no clearer than I was when I began. In fact I have to struggle harder and harder each day against my desire to move away or become numb. Simply staying with the pain of others doesn't seem to create any healing or transformation.

Yet there seems to be no other first step into the realm of compassion than to not step away.

"Becoming intimate with the queasy feeling of being in the middle of nowhere makes our hearts more tender. When we are brave enough to stay in the nowhere place then compassion arises spontaneously:” (Perna Chodron, The Places that Scare You)

Spiritual teachers say the middle of nowhere is the only authentic place to be. Not staking out any ground for myself creates the possibility of standing with anyone. The constant challenge is to recognize my true country of origin is the middle of nowhere.

Learn a little more about Tom Fox by reading the links below
Doug Pritchard's eulogy for Tom Fox - click here
Standing firm --Bob Holmes' eulogy for Tom Fox - click here