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DNITOR Milestones
Serving and Reigning-ATribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
hen anyone speaks the name of Dr.
in Luther King, Jr., ears perk up, and
le listen. And inside those of us who
dentified with our brother Martin on
eep levels of race, conviction or both,
is a sense of almost matchless en
asm and pride.
; feel as if what we are is being ac
/ledged and affirmed. We feel that
and what we are somehow has come to
_>r. There is a sense that, perhaps at
last, we count.
id why so? It is unquestionable that he
noned in all of us the latent or budding
of what we feel is our own inherent
ness. When Dr. Martin Luther King,
tood tall, we stood tall. When he
:s —as he continues to do over the
—we feel that in some way our voice is
I. There is a feeling that “he is in us
ve are in him.”
at is precisely what we are! All human
are, indeed, interrelated. Our brother
in caused us to stretch our minds and
maginations just a bit farther than we
been accustomed, so that we could
to see just a bit more of the profound,
ss and yet simple and elementary truth
all men and women are brothers and
s. As the Scriptures tell us, "God has
• of one blood all nations of mankind,
veil on the face of the whole earth. "
17:26)
simple as this may seem, we need most
itly to learn or to re-learn this same
today. How greatly we have needed;
till need, our brother Martin!
ten one of his disciples came to Jesus
te occasion and asked if he might see
Jesus replied: "He who hath seen me
seen the Father. ” (John 14:9) We see
in one another. That’s exactly what
lartin Luther King, Jr. sought to have
! and understand.
: see God in our husbands and wives,
r parents, our children. We see God in
tmilies, our friends, our neighbors and
r co-workers. We see God every day
zens and sometimes in thousands of
inters.
t we also see God in those who live in
nations and who belong to different
One of the perhaps ironic assets or
is of TV and newspapers is that they
us pictures which are needed for our
!h. These media serve a religious or
ual purpose, in that they bring to us
, unfamiliar and perhaps even seem
threatening images of God.
ere are those from other nations with
1 we may have differences —but as our
er Martin would teach us and have us
, God’s face is revealed in them.
ere are those who may have broken the
ir who may have simply been accused
ch; Martin would have us sense that
s life and presence are to be found in
them. ;
There are people who belong to “the :
other” political party; and we must come to i
know that God’s good is to be found in ,
them. That is what our brother Martin '
would teach us. God’s face may be seen
even in our “in-laws,” and even also in
others who make life more lively for us at
times than we might wish to have it be.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has taught
us that all human lives are one. We are one
with everyone. We are one with God—
whose life is to be found in everyone we see,
in all people everywhere—in His great and
wondrous world.
The most important thing is for us to
know it now. Then we shall so relate to all
in whom God lives and is revealed. And
eventually—in God’s good time, and in His
own way—all people everywhere may see
and sense what we have come to know and
prize, as no less than God’s life in them.
What a great and grace-filled man was
Dr. King! He also taught us how to love one
another. In this, again, he was consistent
with what so many know of and love about
Jesus.
There is a beautiful story in the fourth
chapter of St. John’s Gospel, of Jesus’
meeting with a Samaritan woman at
Jacob’s well. Jesus did not believe that the
prevailing or existing laws and customs con
cerning women and Samaritans were very
lovely. They did not express God’s love.
Nor were they evidences of our commit
ment to fulfilling the law of mutual respect
for all others.
It was a violation of local tradition for a
Jewish man to speak with a woman or a
Samaritan such as this in a public place. In
stead of comforming to the law or preach
ing and teaching against it, Jesus simply
lived the way He should. He identified with
the Samaritan woman in the way that God
would have Him do. He conversed and
drank water from the same cup with her.
Is not that what Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. would have done? Is not that what love
is really all about? When we truly love
someone—we relate to them—regardless of
the outward circumstances—in ways that
God would have us do. “God taught us
thus. We accept it. That is the end of it!”
There is a remarkably compelling set of
lines in the Christmas hymn, “O Holy
Night,” which speaks of the love which
God would have us show to others. The
lines speak of Jesus, saying “Surely He
taught us to love one another. His law is
love and His gospel is peace.”
That is exactly what might have been said
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Surely he
taught us to love another. His life was love
and his message was peace.”
(Continued on pageJO-f
SB
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