After writing much of this entry, I decided to come back to the beginning and write a disclaimer. Before you read this entry, I want you to know I am doing my best to give you an overview of Martin Luther King Jr., the way I found him to be as I read his letters, speeches and sermons. A small blog entry cannot and will not cover the magnitude of this man’s character. I am so deeply moved by MLK Jr. that I wanted to give those reading this a quick overview and then hope that you find what was written about him so intriguing, so interesting and moving that you, you-self read his letters, speeches and sermons. At the end of this entry, you will find the link to the website where I obtained the letters, speeches and sermons.
In the United States on the third Monday of January most public schools, state and federal offices will be closed in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. My children are excited they have yet another Monday off of school (this is on the tail end of ‘snowmagedon’ this year in the Atlanta, Georgia area). I grew up in the north and I am uh…41, so for the first decade or so of my public education we didn’t observe MLK Jr. with a day off of school. I’m not sure we really understood who MLK Jr. was or meant expect that we had a day off of school. Looking back, I learned that MLK Jr. was a great Civil Rights activist and leader. From what I am hearing from my children this is also what they are learning. It wasn’t until several years ago that I learned that MLK Jr. was not only a great Civil Rights leader; he was and is much, much more. I am a huge proponent of public schools but teachers are not allowed to teach certain things. We know that anything to do with ‘religion’ is an untouchable subject, unless, it is to explore all religions or religious traditions equally. So to teach about ALL that MLK Jr. was and is, will not happen in the public educational system anytime soon.
About two years ago a group of us that had been elected to serve on our church council were asked to read a book called, The Servant. A simple story about the true essence of Leadership, by James C. Hunter. While reading this book, I came across passages of ideas and quotes from MLK Jr. that caught my attention. Lately, I have run across more and more quotes from MLK Jr. so I decided to do some research and learn more about this man. In reading 16 letters, sermons and speeches given by the Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spanning from 1947-1968, I realized he was a true man of God and a prophet of and for our generation.
In each of the letters, speeches and sermons, Martin Luther King Jr. always, and I can’t emphasize this point enough, ALWAYS pointed his readers and listeners to God. “May I say to you my friends, as I come to a close, and just giving some ideas as why we are assembled here, that we must keep-and I want to stress this, in all of our doings, in all of our deliberations here this evening and all of the week and while whatever we do, we must keep God in the forefront.” (MIA Mass meeting at the Holt Street Baptist Church, Dec. 5th, 1955).
He always spoke about justice for ALL people regardless of their skin color OR their religion. “Now, I hope you will allow me to say to you this afternoon that God is not interested merely in the freedom of black men and brown men and yellow men. God is interested in the freedom of the whole human race. And I believe this philosophy and this determined struggle we will be able to go on in the days ahead and transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” (Speech at the Great March on Detroit, June 23rd, 1963).
He always spoke about peaceful protests. “Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the Untied States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force, which makes for social transformations. Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. (Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, December 10, 1964).
The issue and point Martin Luther King Jr. stressed more than anything was and is: loving everyone, including your enemy. “So I want to turn your attention to this subject: “loving your enemies.” It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation-the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love. …Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization; love even for enemies.” (Loving Your Enemies, November 17th, 1957). In this speech Martin Luther King Jr. goes on to tell us how we can actually ‘learn’ to love by defining the word love. He also teaches us the behavior of love. Behavior of love is a new concept, because most of us view love as a feeling. I encourage you to read this incredible piece of work. I will also be referring to this during the month of February when we tend to speak of the feeling of love.
Before I go any further in this blog entry, I need to define the word prophet. Prophet is someone who speaks the word of God. A prophet is NOT someone who foretells the future. A prophet tells us consequences to our behaviors. Most of the time prophets tell us that our behaviors will lead to consequences we have not considered or consequences that are just plain bad. Thus during the time of the prophets life and for many years later the people the prophet is/was ‘warning’ view them in a negative light.
Where I think Martin Luther King Jr. was ‘misread’ or ‘misunderstood’ has to do with him informing people the consequences of their behaviors. “God has said, that all men must respect the dignity and worth of all human personality and if you don’t, I [God] will take charge.” (Paul’ Letter to the American Christians, Nov. 1956). Imagine you as the oppressor hearing this. You hear that God will take charge because you are not following one of God’s basic tenants. You feel you have this right, so you become angry.
People fail to also see that Martin Luther King Jr. was not only ‘warning’ oppressors of their consequences, he also warned those being oppressed. “May I say a word to those who are struggling against evil. Always be sure that you struggle with Christian methods and Christian weapons. Never succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter. As you press on for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Always avoid violence. If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in your struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.” (Paul’s Letter’s to the American Christians, November 4th 1956). As one being oppressed, who wants to hear that they cannot retaliate with the same vengeance and force being used against them? Not only that, they hear the consequence is future generations of hatred against them.
I know this blog entry is longer than in the past. This blog entry should even be longer than it is now. As I stated, one blog entry does not even come within miles of letting us get to know this incredible man of God, Martin Luther King Jr. I ask that we all take time out on Monday and in the days, weeks and years to come to read his works and to teach our children about this man and his ideas. Martin Luther King Jr. calls all of us, regardless of the color of our skin, religious background, socio-economic status, and sexual orientation, regardless of everything that we find to separate us, to come together as children of One God.
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