“I have also decided to stick to love. For I know that love is ultimately the only answer to our problems. And I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn’t popular to talk about it in some circles today. I’m not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love, I’m talking about a strong, demanding love. And I have seen too much hate. . .hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love.”
-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
As I read today’s headlines announcing the now daily stories of violence, injustice and terrorism I said to myself: “I wish Dr. King was with us now!” I realize it does no good to wish. Love and equality are the result of actions, not wishes. Dr. King had his turn to use his life for good. The result of his courageous life is a lasting legacy that continues to inspire action.
Now it is our turn.
Like Dr. King we can decide today to “stick to love” in our actions and conversations knowing that hate is too great a burden to bear.
It is our turn to decide to speak the truth that not all Muslims are terrorists, that not all police are brutalists, and that not all black men are criminals. It is our turn to feed the hungry through SHARE and other programs that help address economic disparity. It is our turn to educate ourselves on the work yet to be done and to advocate for fairness, socially and economically.
It is our turn to live the legacy of Dr. King by building relationships with people beyond our zip-codes, affinity groups, educational levels, and comfort zones.
Rev. Dr. Allan Boesak, an influential anti-apartheid activist in South Africa during his earlier years, and currently The Desmond Tutu Chair for Peace, Global Justice, and Reconciliation at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana says, “God must raise up faithful people who have heard God’s voice in the cries of the oppressed, who take refuge in the love of God and from within that place of refuge find courage and step into the world to challenge the powers of evil.”
As we remember Dr. King on this his birthday, we are grateful that when it was his turn he used it well. Now it is your turn and my turn. It is our turn to live the legacy of Dr. King and move into the world to challenge hatred in its subtle and blatant forms.
Faithfully,
Rev. Dwayne
