Placing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Today's Public Square: Part 1
By Dr. Kevin Higgins
This seems like a particularly poignant and ripe season of our history to celebrate the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. The significance of this day should not be minimized, or trivialized, by merely taking the day off.
When I think of that significance, among all that could and should be said, what leaps to my mind are the ways that he as a leader himself, and in the movement he led, exhibited things like:
The honest and transparent way by which issues were named as they are and without apology but coupled with an incredibly resilient optimism about what people, we together, can be.
A strength and power that exuded humility, and vice versa, a humility that exuded a profound strength and power.
The amazing truth that he led without speaking ill of those who opposed him.
As I write, I find myself trying to imagine those qualities in the public square today:
in our political leadership
in our news media
in social media
in the brothers and sisters laying claim to the name Christian
in the face and heart of the man who meets me in the mirror every day
And I pray. And hope. And imagine. And believe.
"O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son; look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that in your good time all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
(Book of Common Prayer; p. 815)
