- This is the Day
- Posts
- September 29
September 29
Lanza del Vasto, Louis Burnham, Shyima Hall, W.H. Auden, and Don West
David Barnhart
September 29, 2025
“The Most Dangerous Road in the World,” Bolivia, 2009. Own photo.
Today is the birthday, in 1901, of Lanza del Vasto, an Italian Catholic theologian, poet, and non-violent community organizer. He founded a commune called Community of the Ark and spent most of his life protesting militarism and war.
Today is also the birthday, in 1915, of Louis Burnham, civil rights activist and community organizer who moved to Birmingham in the 40’s and planted the seeds that would make the events of 1963 possible.
Today is also the birthday, in 1989, of Shyima Hall, who is an activist and a survivor of human trafficking in the United States. She was born in Cairo but sold to a wealthy family to pay off her family’s debts. She is the author of Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern Day Child Slave.
Today marks the death, in 1973, of W.H. Auden, a modern English poet whose faith informed his work. His poem memorializing Deitrich Bonhoeffer is a powerful theological reflection.
Today also marks the death, in 1992, of Don West, community organizer and co-founder of the Highlander Folk School.
Reflection:
Louis Burnham said:
“I know you get tired of the continuing struggle sometimes. We all do—and then there are reversals in situations—but we must not despair, we must not rest too long. Tomorrow's new world beckons. Tomorrow belongs to us.”
Lanza del Vasto understood mindfulness:
“It is not enough to pay attention to what you are doing. You must pay attention to yourself doing what you are doing.”
and sustainability:
“Find the shortest, simplest way between the earth, the hands and the mouth.”
W.H. Auden wrote about embracing his Christian faith when confronted with the horror of fascism:
“The novelty and shock of the Nazis was that they made no pretense of believing in justice and liberty for all….Confronted by such a phenomenon, it was impossible any longer to believe that the values of liberal humanism were self-evident. If, as I am convinced, the Nazis are wrong and we are right, what is it that validates our values and invalidates theirs?”
“You shall love your crooked neighbour, with your crooked heart.”
and from a poem titled “September 1, 1939,” that could have been written yesterday of our own time:
…All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.”
Prayer: God, in the face of overwhelming malice in the world, may we continue to shine with love. Amen.