The Thinking of
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The Personalist would also say, “God is with us everyday in our time of need. And so, if God is with us we must be ‘with us’”. That is, “If God cares for us we must care for others—our brothers and sisters on earth.” Here again you can hear the evangelical liberalism; the theistic idea that God is working actively in history with human beings to create the Beloved Community. Also, personalism says that humans must have spiritual liberty. That if they are enslaved or oppressed or miseducated in any way, shape or form, they are not fully human! (say what? The preacher has lost his mind!). I’m not kidding; and that is why for the Personalist, denying others their humanity is a great sin! Personalism tells us we must be free to allow our personalities to shine, that we must be free to find ourselves, the god within… Hear these words from King’s sermon, “The American Dream” (1965): (forgive his exclusive language) “It wouldn’t take us long to discover the substance of the American Dream. It is found in those majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, words lifted to cosmic proportions: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by God, Creator, with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’ This is a dream. It’s a great dream… The first saying we notice in this dream is an amazing universalism. It doesn’t say ‘some men,’ it says ‘all men.’ It doesn’t say ‘all white men,’ it says ‘all men,’ which includes black men. It does not say ‘all Gentiles,’ it says ‘all men,’ which includes Jews. It doesn’t say ‘all Protestants,’ it says ‘all men,’ which includes Catholics. It doesn’t even say ‘all theists and believers,’ it says ‘all men’ which includes humanists and agnostics.” King’s understanding of personalism is evident here. Now it all ties together very beautifully and you can see King’s message emerge… You have all of these ideas of Evangelical Liberalism, a school of thought that is bent on making the Gospel relevant to a modern era. You have the ideas of the Social Gospel which taught that gospel relevance comes through social action, as the prophets of the Bible modeled. And you also have the concept of personalism which reveals that social justice work is God’s work because you are helping others to be free so they can find the image of God within them, thus speeding up the day where we witness the new heavens and new earth reality in our midst. There we are… Just some of what made Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tick. When you mix in his love for family and studies on Gandhi, you get an even more complete picture of a man committed to the human struggle. But why do we Unitarian Universalists have a Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday every year? I think it is because his message resonates within us. It matches our Unitarian Universalists principles. Indeed, our faith is not just a spiritual faith but a social faith. We believe that we must create the change we want! We believe like King that “…everyday is a good day for justice.” We believe that one must live with principles and those principles must call one to the altar of humanity. We believe like King that “we shall overcome someday”. We are eternal optimists like King. But, you should know… During his last days he was extremely depressed. He was sad for the world. He questioned the optimism of liberalism. He wondered if many churches were but a mere “veneer of religiosity”; wondered if it was possible to shift the consciousness of people who preferred violence to peace. And he wondered every time he picked up the phone and there were death threats because he was trying to make life better for ALL, but most interpreted it has screwing the world up. Yes, he wondered because his own friends abandoned him when he spoke out against Vietnam. He knew he was right but his soul was in pain because the world was not moving toward justice, as many seemed to prefer the lower road of tribalism, classism and racism. Yes, he was depressed… And, you know, at times, I get distressed over this fight for justice. I grew up in Southeast, Washington, D.C., and lived near the street named for Dr. King. Unfortunately, it is one of the worst streets in the city; and so are many of the streets in other urban communities named for this great America; and it is a tragedy because this overtly symbolizes that the dream is yet to be realized! It bothers me deeply because you know that the “gentle angry people,” the “justice seeking people” are not in the trenches enough! This tells me that we are still bending that moral arc—and you know it because there are still many crimes and drug peddling and ignorance there—you know it because the world is still too segregated—you know it because race still matters, regrettably—you know because you look at the priorities of this nation and it still prioritizes buying and selling products over loving and serving its people! And some days it hits you and you wonder if the dream is a dreamers fancy or just still seemingly far, far away… But I thank the Universe for those still small voices in life—those glimmers of hope; those flickers of light that reveal “there’s more love somewhere.” Like our Unitarian Universalist movement that earnestly seeks to end oppression and suffering in this world. That gives me hope! And I know if King were alive we would be giving him hope today. As Oscar Wilde shared, many might be in the gutter “...but some of us are looking at the stars!” And so, I’m looking up; I still have hope today that one pebble in a pond creates many ripples and that our movement can save America and this world from itself. Let us take the message from Evangelical Liberalism with us, which says to me that if there is a God, IT is alive in our hands, our feet, and in our voices! And, if there is to be peace, that peace will begin with me. Yes, I too have “been to the mountaintop… 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 that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. So I’m happy and hopeful today... I’m not worried about anything. I don’t fear the future. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of a new day, when freedom and justice will reign on earth and the glory of life shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together!” Amen. |
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Copyright by Rev. John T. Crestwell. All rights reserved. Please contact him for permission to use. |
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