On this day when we celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., take some time to read or listen to some of his speeches, sermons, or lectures. While you are doing so, consider the fact that all of these were written and delivered in the 1960's and think about all the work that still needs to be done. One of the major concepts at the heart of Dr. King's worldview is the idea of the Beloved Community. For Dr. King the Beloved Community "was a realistic, achievable goal that could be attained by a critical mass of people committed to and trained in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence . . . (it) is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it" (https://thekingcenter.org/about-tkc/the-king-philosophy/). As you can see, this is not something that is just going to happen. No, it is up to us to create the Beloved Community, and it will take commitment and sacrifice from those of us who benefit greatly from allowing our current systems and structures to remain the same.
When we read or consider Dr. King, the temptation is to simplify his profound message into easy to swallow sound bites or bumper sticker quotes and make him a caricature of the prophet he was and continues to be. Dr. King wasn't popular among many people of his day. He wasn't afraid to say difficult things and call us to a better way that would demand change.
The two challenging pieces that have been on my mind recently are "America's Chief Moral Dilemma," delivered in 1967 (excerpts can be found here https://www.theatlantic.com/.../martin-luther.../552533/), and "Letter from Birmingham Jail", written in 1963 (full text found here https://www.csuchico.edu/.../susi-letter-from-birmingham...). Take some time to sit with these words today. Let's think about how we can do the necessary work that is still left to do even fifty years later. We are not there yet. What is one tangible thing you can do in your neighborhood, school, or city?
"Three major evils—the evil of racism, the evil of poverty, and the evil of war. These are the three things that I want to deal with today . . . Somehow these three evils are tied together. The triple evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism . . . For those who are telling me to keep my mouth shut, I can’t do that. I’m against segregation at lunch counters, and I’m not going to segregate my moral concerns. And we must know on some positions, cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” Vanity asks the question, “Is it popular?” But conscience asks the question, “Is it right?” And there’re times when you must take a stand that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but you must do it because it is right" (from "America's Chief Moral Dilemma").
Let's do what is right even if it isn't convenient or easy.
God, help me to find a way to bring the Beloved Community into reality right here where I live. Amen.