“People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” – Edmund Burke
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” – John Stuart Mills
“Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men? It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes.” – Les Misérables
“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Though God may intend man to destroy himself, he also has given man free will and the ability to cleanse himself and his world. The church will not be pessimistic, nor sit quietly in its handsome houses of worship while the war rages outside its churches for the bodies, minds and souls of its parishioners.” – Archbishop Iakovos, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
And here is one important final quote:
“The beautiful Day which lasted almost 37 years has reached its end. The sunset is brilliant, as I can read it in your eyes. The night will be short, as are the nights of the summer. And the dawn will rise tomorrow upon another Day. It is for this day that I pray together with you. I want you to be happy, to enjoy the light, to walk in it. I will be terribly unhappy if you ever lose the sight of tomorrow.
Finish your each day with the reassuring truth that tomorrow is another day. A day unsure as it may be, but a day which is yours with all the brilliance of its sun, with all its flowers and birdsongs, and all the uncertainties, the fears, the anxieties and the hopes, as well. Remember, that you also have to make it easier to accept each day, to dissipate any clouds that may threaten to darken the sun. Do not allow the darkness to envelop your soul. When you see it approaching, you keep it at a distance with your Christian courage and determination. …” – Archbishop Iakovos, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in his farewell speech.
This coming Monday we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. for the many contributions he made to the American nation and American society and culture. There are still those who love to hate on him, trying to find the least little mistake by him to argue that he has helped ruin this society. There are those who explicitly try to claim that he was a Communist, when he denied it more than once, and even spoke out against Communism. Oddly enough, there have been Tea Party conservatives who have tried to claim that his anti-Communist statements should be understood to mean that he would have stood against President Obama on [fill in the blank] political cause. There are those who try to make him into a a liberal and part of a conspiracy to destroy the moral fiber of this country, even when he spoke clearly on any of several moral issues. In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” he says:
“But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were ‘a colony of heaven,’ called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be ‘astronomically intimidated.’ By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests.”
Alveda Celeste King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece, says that this statement is part of the reason she is pro-life. She is convinced that though her uncle was concentrated on liberty for the “Negro,” that he was ardently pro-life when it came to abortion and other pro-life issues.
Rather, Martin Luther King Jr., stood in a long line of people who truly did realize that freedom is not free. Today that saying has been sadly twisted and only tends to be used in pictures and license plates that depict a member of the American Armed Forces. But, it is not only members of the Armed Forces who are involved in the struggle for freedom. Edmund Burke was a member of Parliament who argued against the tax levied on the American Colonists, against unfair limitations against Roman Catholics, etc. John Stuart Mills was a philosopher who clearly pointed out that if good men do not act, evil will triumph. Victor Hugo, author of Les Misérables, is also the author of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. He dealt with issues of the poor, the disabled, the outcast, and fought for them.
Finally, the Church has been at the forefront of the stand for liberty more than once. Yes, I realize that the Church has also been behind some of the biggest oppressions in history. But, overall, I would argue that her witness is that which Martin Luther King, Jr., claimed, “… they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests.” In Archbishop Iakovos we have some modern American statements that speak to the struggle for liberty. “The church will not … sit quietly in its handsome houses of worship while the war rages outside its churches for the bodies, minds and souls of its parishioners.” We are called to participate in the struggle for liberty Being pro-life is much more than simply being anti-abortion as both Martin Luther King, Jr., and Archbishop Iakovos point out. Freedom is not free. It is something for which we must fight. As we remember Martin Luther King, Jr., let us remember a fighter for justice and freedom.
At the same time, those who fight for liberty can all too often become a joyless bunch. It behooves us to remember Archbishop Iakovos’ parting words:
“The beautiful Day which lasted almost 37 years has reached its end. The sunset is brilliant, as I can read it in your eyes. The night will be short, as are the nights of the summer. And the dawn will rise tomorrow upon another Day. It is for this day that I pray together with you. I want you to be happy, to enjoy the light, to walk in it. I will be terribly unhappy if you ever lose the sight of tomorrow.
Finish your each day with the reassuring truth that tomorrow is another day. A day unsure as it may be, but a day which is yours with all the brilliance of its sun, with all its flowers and birdsongs, and all the uncertainties, the fears, the anxieties and the hopes, as well. Remember, that you also have to make it easier to accept each day, to dissipate any clouds that may threaten to darken the sun. Do not allow the darkness to envelop your soul. When you see it approaching, you keep it at a distance with your Christian courage and determination. …”
I am enough of a geek to think of a particular reflection in Lord of the Rings, as it appears that Gondor is about to fall:
Pippin: I didn’t think it would end this way.
Gandalf: End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path… One that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass… And then you see it.
Pippin: What? Gandalf?… See what?
Gandalf: White shores… and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.
Pippin: [smiling] Well, that isn’t so bad.
Gandalf: [softly] No… No it isn’t.
Martin Luther King, Jr., was murdered for his daring to say that “the Negro” should have equal rights. “White shores … and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.” Memory Eternal, Martin Luther King, Jr.
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