(Honoring
Marting Luther King Jr.)
“Sticks
and Stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”
Remember that old saying? My mom used to recite it when my sister and
I were fighting. It may have been true when we called each other
names, but it certainly isn't true today.
We
have just completed one of the most divisive election cycles in
history. Not only did we call each other names, but Russian hacking
of US internet servers and “false news” websites compounded the
damage. Many are fearful and angry. The usual niceties in a
transition between administrations are missing. Our democracy is at
risk unless we can heal the fear, hatred and intolerance that infects
us.
This
weekend we celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wand the civil
rights movement to free African Americans from tyranny and prejudice.
Today the dynamic of fear and hatred has spread world-wide as people
with different religions, economic circumstances, political
preferences and gender identities are isolated, marginalized and
persecuted. Yes, names matter.
When
Jean and I named our children, we carefully searched for the right
names. We wanted to choose well because a person's name is a way of
describing
their essence. I liked the sound of Leah for our daughter, but I
didn't like its meaning, “the weary one.” Instead we chose
Rebecca meaning, “Captivating.” This wonderfully described our
daughter. Timothy, meaning "Honored
by God," seemed perfect for our son.
There
is an ancient Hebrew story about the patriarch, Jacob. i
Jacob was the second born of twins. His name means “the grabber,”
because he was grabbing Esau's heel during the birth process. Jacob
continued his grabbing ways as he grew older. He stole Esau's
birthright by tricking his father. He fled to his uncle Laban's
where he lived fourteen years and married his uncle's two daughters.
There he manipulated Laban so he could increase his own wealth at his
uncle's expense.
Jacob
was hounded by a sense that there was
more to life than his empty existence of grabbing and accumulating.
Things came to a head one lonely night
as he and his family journeyed home to confront Esau. He sent his
servants, cattle and family ahead to appease his brother. Alone by
the Jabbok Creek, Jacob grappled with
the implications of his past life. This
struggle manifest itself as a wrestling match with an unknown being.
Jacob was wounded in the hip, but he refused to release the being
until he was granted a blessing. Finally the blessing was given:
“You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have
striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.”
That
morning, permanently lame, Jacob/Israel limped forward to make peace
with his brother. The families of his sons became the twelve tribes
of Israel. Jacob, the grabber, became the father of a nation.
Another
story, this one from the Christian tradition, describes how Jesus was
also renamed. Jesus, son of Joseph the carpenter, was about 30 years
old when John, the Baptizer, burst on the scene. John was a wild
man. He lived in the wilderness, dressed in camel skins, and ate
wild locusts and honey. He called people to be baptized in the
Jordan River to symbolize a recommitment to their covenant with
Yahweh. Then, he believed, Yahweh would send a Messiah (anointed
one)ii
like King
David of old, to defeat the hated Roman occupiers.
We
don't know why Jesus was drawn to John. Some suggest he was John's
disciple Perhaps he was caught up in the religious yearning for a
Messiah, like King David, who would liberate them from Rome. Maybe he
felt a need to repent of past actions as Jacob did? Whatever Jesus'
motivation, the baptism had a profound affect on him.
He
traveled with the crowds into the wilderness to be baptized by John.
Jesus went down into the Jordan. When he emerged, he was blinded by
a vision. The heavens ripped open, and these words descended upon
him like a gentle dove: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am
well pleased.” iii
Jesus
was certainly aware that the legendary King David received a similar
blessing. iv
He must have been filled with questions. Was he being called to lead
Israel against Rome? Immediately, Jesus fled into the wilderness
where he struggled with God, much as Jacob struggled hundreds of
years earlier. As with Jacob, Jesus' life was transformed. His name
was changed. He was no longer Jesus, Son of Joseph. To his followers
he had became, Jesus, The Anointed One.
As
we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it is
noteworthy that Dr. King also had an experience that altered his
identity. It was 1954. Twenty-five year old Martin, finishing his
doctoral dissertation at Boston University, had just accepted the
position as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery,
Alabama. He was the son of Martin Luther King Senior, the famous
pastor of Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He assumed
he would continue in his father's footsteps as an influential pastor
in a large black church.
Prior
to King's arrival in Montgomery, the
Woman's Political Council (WPC), a group of black professionals, had
begun challenging Jim Crow practices on the Montgomery city buses.
v
Two young women, a
15-year-old named Claudette Colvin and an18-year-old, Mary Louise
Smith, were arrested for refusing to yield their seats to a white
passenger on a Montgomery bus. Following this, a coalition was
formed. Rosa Parks, long time activist and respected member of the
community, was chosen as part of an action to test the law.
Pamphlets were distributed, preparing the community to respond after
Rosa refused to yield her seat and was arrested.
On
December 5, 1955, ninety percent of Montgomery’s black citizens
stayed off the buses. That afternoon, the city’s ministers and
leaders met to discuss the possibility of extending the boycott into
a long-term campaign. During this meeting, the Montgomery Improvement
Association (MIA) was formed, and King was elected president. Rosa
Parks recalled: ‘‘The advantage of having Dr. King as president
was that he was so new to Montgomery and to civil rights work that he
hadn’t been there long enough to make any strong friends or
enemies.’’
One
night, early in the boycott, Dr. King, had a religious epiphany that
changed his life. He arrived home from a planning meeting. Coretta
and the kids were in bed. The phone rang, and an anonymous caller
threatened his life. He went to bed but couldn't sleep. The path
before him seemed impossible. Then, while praying aloud, he felt the
presence of God as he never had before.
This
experience reconciled him to the danger of the boycott and the
protest actions that followed. The next year his home was bombed.
King calmed the crowd declaring: ‘‘Be calm as I and my family
are. We are not hurt; and remember that if anything happens to me,
there will be others to take my place.’’ The boycott continued
for a year. Finally, Montgomery officials agreed to integrated the
bus system.
As
a result of his leadership in the boycott, Martin Luther King Jr.,
“the aspiring academic,” was renamed. He became Martin Luther
King Jr., “civil rights leader.”
King,
like Jacob and Jesus, experienced the transforming presence of God.
This allowed him to say, “I refuse to accept the view that mankind
vi
is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war
that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a
reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will
have the final say.”
Today
we face a crisis as great as that faced by Dr. King. American
citizens are divided. Many are fearful as a new administration takes
over the reigns of leadership. King's words ring as true today as
they did then. He understood the importance of resisting oppression.
He warned, “He
who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating
with it."
He
also understood the danger to our nation that occurs when leaders
mock the honorable among us and denigrate the powerless. He cried
out, “Have
we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love
our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting
hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be
plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.”
Today,
each of us is called to get involved. The stories of Jacob, Jesus
and King are helpful in this regard. All three faced impossible
situations. Each anguished and struggled; sometimes with that higher
calling that motivated and energized them. All three were nourished
through something beyond themselves. They knew they were special and
loved, even in their weakness.
Dr.
King put it well when he said, “Man
must evolve, for all human conflict, a method which rejects revenge,
aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
He understood that those who practice oppression, domination and
bigotry are most often insecure, fearful and self-centered. They
rely on institutional power and self aggrandizement to bolster an
inner sense of fear and self doubt.
This
is where I find hope. When we engage the cosmic flow, that many call
God, we grow into our authentic selves. We have nothing to hide. We
understand and accept both our strengths and weaknesses. We, like
Jacob, can “strive
with God and with humans and prevail.”
Furthermore,
and this has been a recent insight, our struggle for human rights
will not be defined by those whom we oppose, Fear, hatred and
revulsion will be replaced by anguish, sorrow and compassion. This
is at the core of “loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.” We
will anguish with those who are suffering. We will also grieve for
the oppressors. They are so blinded by their self absorption that
they have little compassion. They cannot perceive the wonder of what
it means to be authentic human beings.
The
doesn't make the struggle any less difficult. Hatred, violence and
oppression must still be resisted. Dr. King knew this. He said,
"Human
progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the
goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the
tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."
Yet
the struggle can be transformed. We
will persevere knowing we are in the cosmic flow. We will no longer
battle death. We will participate in the energizing force of emerging
life.
I'm
sure you have experienced this. I felt it in church last Sunday when
we pledged ourselves to continue the struggle for human rights. I
feel it in seminars when something moves in the group that is more
than the sum of the individual participants. I feel it when my
little grandson asks me to help him build a fantastic structure out
of Legos and when he crawls into my lap uninvited.
This
is what keeps me going even in the face of disappointment and defeat.
Life is much more than resistance. It is engaging our authentic
selves and discovering potentials beyond our wildest imaginings.
When this happens, we know we can stay the course.
iGenesis
25-35
vNote:
It is seldom reported that women were some of the initial leaders in
the civil rights movement.
viI
have chosen not to modify King's quotes to make them gender
inclusive.. Consider a “sic” added after each quote.
