This week, we turn to perhaps one of the church's most eloquent and powerful witnesses to the triumph of the Kingdom of God on earth. Martin Luther King, Jr., African American Baptist minister and civil rights leader, was born in Atlanta, GA, as the second child of a Baptist minister. Earning degrees from Morehouse, Crozer Theological Seminar, and Boston University, King was well on his way to a comfortable career as pastor of an affluent African American congregation in Montgomery, Alabama, when the events surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott pulled him to the forfront of a church-born, nonviolent struggle that ended in the desegregation of all public transport. He continued on to champion the rights of the persecuted, bringing thousands alongside him to advocate for a non-violent end to racial and economic barriers that stood throughout the nation. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, making him the youngest to receive this award. Motivated by his understanding of a personal, socially active God, King's theological influences were rich and textured, ranging from the deeply Biblical faith of his upbringing to the more contemporary theological thought of Paul Tillich and Reinhold Neibuhr. Ultimately, however, King pointed towards a living Jesus as the model and motivator for all action.
*King calls this movement a "spiritual movement". What do you think he means?
*If we are called to live as peacemakers, as King explains, what kinds of "radical action" might become not-so-radical? Do you think King understood what he was doing as "radical"?
*King explains "confrontation with love". Have you encountered this on a social or individual level with the Lord? How does hate in our hearts make this difficult?
**Next week, we will be reading Richard of St. Victor, p. 184 in Spiritual Disciplines.**
1 comment:
Well said.
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