Martin Luther King Jr. (updated repost)

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martin luther king jr

martin luther king

mlk

martin luther king jr. day

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."

You can say what you want about Martin Luther King Jr. You can say he was a good person, or a bad person. You can say that he was unrealistic or delusional. You can focus on his sins, or you can try to take him for what he was. He was a man, and like all men he made mistakes. Only in literature will you find examples of men without faults to call heroes. In the real world, you have to learn to admire the good in people, and forgive the very human misteps that all are capable of.

Martin Luther King Jr. had his flaws. He stumbled, and fell, and suffered the fate that no person can avoid. In his death, a martyr was formed. He was a reluctant Martyr. His own words on a now famous day in 1968 were:

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

He really did have a dream and he shared it with the world. Because of this, he was a hero to many in life, and in death his mission went on like a phoenix. His words can still be read, and in them the passion rings true. The message he put forth is one that came before him and lived on after him. His contribution and dedication to this message may have cost him the mortal life, but he is forever immortal in his words. I would like to share some of those words with you in honor of him on this day named in his honor.

"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 comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right."

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."

"Wisdom born of experience should tell us that war is obsolete. There may have been a time when war served as a negative good by preventing the spread and growth of an evil force... If we assume that life is worth living, if we assume that mankind has the right to survive, then we must find an alternative to war."

"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."

"We must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means."

"There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society, with a large segment of people in that society, who feel that they have no stake in it; who feel that they have nothing to lose. People who have a stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don't have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it."

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people"

"The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"

"Today the poor are less often dismissed, I hope, from our consciences by being branded as inferior or incompetent. We also know that no matter how dynamically the economy develops and expands, it does not eliminate all poverty. The problem indicates that our emphasis must be twofold. We must create full employment or we must create incomes. People must be made consumers by one method or the other. Once they are placed in this position we need to be concerned that the potential of the individual is not wasted. New forms of work that enhance the social good will have to be devised for those for whom traditional jobs are not available"