Martin
“I
believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final
word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger
than evil triumphant.”
Martin
Luther King, Jr.
There is no way to
adequately express the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the
psyche of the world. I don't know whether it was the depth of his
character, or the content of his words, or the ample reality of his
physical being that lent him the out-sized gravity he wielded. I guess
it doesn't matter, but in my lifetime, he has carried the authority
of ultimate truth more than any other human being. And, what he spoke
about almost exclusively was love, justice, and equality.
I have been told on more
than one occasion that I am naïve; that I don't understand the very
real and present danger that we live in today. We could make a long
list of potential threats, and still probably leave some out. There
is much to fear, not the least of which is the ever increasing
popularity of violent extremism on all sides. The problem is that
fear begets fear, violence begets violence and love begets love,
peace begets peace—we have a choice. One does not lead to another;
we can not kill our way to peace, nor hate our way to love. They
don't overlap like layers on a cake. We have to choose which ones we
will live by. Choose fear or love; choose violence or peace.
In the
face of hatred and violence, Martin chose love and peace. And, yes, he died for
it, but he did not sell his soul. Instead, he said: “Our lives
begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Unarmed truth and unconditional love are choices we make, and then
pray that we have the courage, as he did, to stand in their light.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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