Unarmed truth and unconditional love
Some thoughts from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"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."
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speach, December 10, 1964
"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve.
You don't have to have a college degree to serve.
You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.
You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
"If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets
even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music,
or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well
that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say,
here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well."
"The church was not merely a thermometer
that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion;
it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society."
Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 1963
"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend."
"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.
We have guided missiles and misguided men."
Strength to Love, 1963
"All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality."
"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period
of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people,
but the appalling silence of the good people."
"I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered
something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."
Speech in Detroit, June 23, 1963
"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia,
the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners
will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood."
unconditional love will have
the final word in reality.
That is why right, temporarily defeated,
is stronger than evil triumphant."
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speach, December 10, 1964
"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve.
You don't have to have a college degree to serve.
You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.
You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
"If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets
even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music,
or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well
that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say,
here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well."
"The church was not merely a thermometer
that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion;
it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society."
Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 1963
"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend."
"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.
We have guided missiles and misguided men."
Strength to Love, 1963
"All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality."
"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period
of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people,
but the appalling silence of the good people."
"I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered
something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."
Speech in Detroit, June 23, 1963
"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia,
the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners
will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood."
posted by King of Peace @ Monday, January 16, 2006
3 Comments:
At 1/16/2006 6:34 PM,
FRIDAY'S CHILD said…
I agree with you 100% about love changing enemies to friendship coz you can create an oasis of love in the midst of a harsh and uncaring world by grinding it out and sticking in there.
I also do believe that success is to be measured not by wealth, power or fame, nor education, but by the ration between what man is and what he might be.
At 1/17/2006 2:54 PM,
Anonymous said…
Dr. King's dream remains just that, an unfulfilled vision of true equality. There are a great many people who, on the surface, say they believe everyone to be equal no matter the skin color. But in reality we are still two separate races inhabiting the same space and time. The prejudice may be covert but it very much still exists. All you have to do is drive down MLK Boulevard in Kingsland and you'll see how the other half lives. Dr. King had the unique abilities of putting the feelings of his generation into eloquent words and the ability to make others believe what he knew to be true: You cannot conquer love. It's what Christ taught. It's what Dr. King taught. Too bad it remains a dream deferred.
At 1/20/2006 5:12 PM,
Anonymous said…
What I meant by "the other half" is the poor African Americans that live in Camden County that the white well-to-do don't even know exist. I'm hopeful that one day we will live in a world of true equality. But to look at it with rose colored glasses and call it something it's not is as big a disservice as ignoring the problem.
I do celebrate diversity and believe that in that diversity we find our greatest strength. I work in a profession where we see the sometimes ugly reality of life and the consequences of decades of white dominated government and culture up close and personally. Make no mistake about it, racism exists in Camden County. Ask an African American who was born and raised here.
We are all equal. God is colorblind, it's some of his creations that are the problem.
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