This morning, Carol
Frame Matthews sent around this quote from Matthew Fox’s book Creativity:
“The story is
told of Martin Luther King Junior’s bringing a proposition to his board of
twenty-two person. The proposition was about his coming out publicly
against the Vietnam War. The board was adamantly against it. They
had enough troubles already. Their financial situation was
tottering. They did not need another huge controversy to add to the other
issues they were wrestling with and the other fires they were trying to
contain. At the board meeting the vote was twenty-one to one NOT to come
out against the war. The next day Dr. King held a press conference in
which he announced his opposition to the war.”
So I was inspired
to track down what this notorious war was teaching Martin, whose birth we
celebrate today! On April 4, 1967, the day my grandmother Miriam celebrated her
66th birthday, in New York City’s Riverside Church, Dr. King said:
“…We are called to play the Good
Samaritan on life’s roadside . . . but one day we must come to see that the
whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be
constantly beaten and robbed. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a
beggar. It comes to see that a system that produces beggars needs to be
repaved….”
Toward the end of
the speech, MLK said – “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.
We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum
of life and history there is such a thing as being too late… “The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on…”
We still have a choice today; nonviolent coexistence or violent
co-annihilation.
~
“Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence,” Martin Luther King Jr.;one
of MLK’s least publicized speeches
In celebration of this
Martin Luther King Junior Day the day before an history-making inauguration, let
me spill my spiritual guts on the page for you. Intestines meander, so this may
too, but the destination is clear. If you get no farther than this, you’ve
already read the most inspiring and challenging words!
What do these words
mean to me? Well, I am deeply challenged by three questions. Related to those,
I do have one clear intention, but I need so much more clarity and ask for your
help. I’ll try to do the same for you if you merely ask me. Okay, here goes.