why nonviolence works

the more i study the teachings of Jesus, the more I understand the movement of an upside down kingdom. the first shall be last, the poor shall be rich,give up your life to gain it, the list goes on. Jesus also had some challenging teachings when it comes to the way we approach violence, revenge, justice.  Turn the other cheek may not just apply to us when we are personally wronged. It may not just apply to our group of people we identify with when wronged ( whether it be race or religion or gender). It may be what we are called to in the largest corporate context. I have heard it said that it is simply illogical to believe that violence can bring about peace. Yet I look around and see this illogical approach is by and large the most used method for attempting peace and liberation in countries. Many of those i have talked with about this see nonviolent movements as unrealistic idealology, or fantasy of utopia that will never be. Studying this a bit further i stumbled across a study done by Erica Chenoweth, a student at Wesleyan University. Her work is a statistical look at modern nonviolent movements and what the success rates are of those campaigns. There is a slideshow summary of her findings here.  If you have a lot of time or really want to research the topic here is her entire study .

I LIVE IN DENVER

I have lived out here for a year and half now and have these epiphanies from time to time. I was driving form my apartment to the YWAM offices this morning and had this realization.I LIVE IN COLORADO. This hit me at the out of body experience of seeing myself driving down the road in a subaru, drinking non corporate coffee (its ok starbucks i still love you) out of my reusable cup, listening to NPR's morning edition. Although I cling tightly to my Ohio roots,  I realized I had crossed an invisible line. I LIVE in denver. With that said I thought I'd have an Oprah moment and share some of my favorite things of this city I now call home... Lets start with food and drink...here they are.

1. SWEET ACTION ICE CREAM

After moving from Columbus Ohio I knew there would be no match for Jeni's Ice Cream , but I have to say I have indeed found a close second. Sweet Action is a little shop on South Broadway that specializes in superpremium ice creams, vegan ice creams, and fresh fruit sorbets. There ice cream cookies aren't half bad either.

2. Pablo's Coffee 

Pablo's is a coffee roaster and local shop down in the capital hill area.  They provide coffee for a lot of local shops, but have their own coffee shop on the corner of 6th and washington. the staff there are friendly and fun. the coffee is good and hot and they have a big patio, great for summer saturday morning coffee runs.

3. City o City 

After a month long fast/cleansing thing last january I became a vegetarian (for various digestive reasons). Since then my "eating out options" became quite limited...until i found city o city. this is a great restaurant with an extensive vegan/vegetarian menu and a very fun atmosphere. They have late hours and are a bastian of microbrews in downtown. seriously these guys are a jem.

...these are three great finds in the city of denver. there are many many more, but these are must drink/eats....check em out.