This past weekend, our nation recalled the fortieth anniversary of the killing of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. – April 4, 1968 in Memphis. The life of one of this nation’s great citizens and of Christian faith’s great prophets ended tragically when he was only 39.
For me, King’s voice is one I carry in my head and my heart. As I think about what it means to be a Christian, an American, a human being, I hear his voice echo in my mind and heart and soul. I was only 8 when Dr. King was assassinated, but I have heard his words and they echo inside of me. I treasure the records and cassette tapes I have of his voice, and the books I have that record his words. Those who have heard the speech he made April 3, the night before he was killed, will never forget how haunting are the words, and how relevant they remain.
Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; its nonviolence or nonexistence.
We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God’s children. And that we don’t have to live like we are forced to live.
Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. 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 tonight, that we as a people will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
In two and a half weeks, I head for the United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. I will carry with me Martin’s voice. As I think about what it means to be the church in our day and time, his words will echo in my heart. As I think about poverty and racism and the church, my soul will be stirred by his example.
I will also carry with me the voice of another killed in that same year – Bobby Kennedy. The words he spoke the night Dr. King was killed are elegant and eloquent, and they stir the soul and inspire the spirit.
Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black -- considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible -- you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge.
We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization -- black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.
For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill with -- be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.
But we have to make an effort in the United States. We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond, or go beyond these rather difficult times.
My favorite poem, my -- my favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote:
Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
through the awful grace of God.
What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.
I am grateful for the voices that echo in my heart and mind and soul. And this week, another voice was added. This is not the voice of a great speaker, a famous person, an elegant elocutionist. It is the voice of a woman I know, a grandmother, a member of a church I once served – a small church in a small, quiet community in Northern Minnesota. This week she wrote me a letter as a delegate to General Conference.
I’m sure that there will be many very important issues coming up with decisions to be made. We are grandparents to a very loving grandson… who is gay. While I don’t know if I support gay marriage – I really want to encourage a partnership where one could make decisions for each other like a husband and wife. Also, I would like gays and lesbians to be encouraged to become members of The United Methodist Church. [Our grandson] has said he’d never wish for this, but, he was born this way, and, he, like all of us, should embrace his being a child of our most High God. As for those who judge others – there is only one Judge. I hope this is okay for me to express to you – while I’ve never looked down on gays – I find myself trying to speak up now.
I know some African-Americans who bristle at the suggestion that the civil rights struggle led by Martin Luther King, Jr. has anything to do with the struggle of gays and lesbians for inclusion in the church and in the society. I make no correlation here, respecting their point of view (though perhaps not agreeing with it). I am simply sharing that among the voices I carry with me as a Christian, as a human being, as a delegate to General Conference, are voices famous and eloquent, and voices quiet but also eloquent in their own way.
With Faith and With Feathers,
David
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