This Glorious Faith
“Before I was a civil rights leader, I was a preacher of the Gospel. This was my first calling and it still remains my greatest commitment. You know, actually all that I do in civil rights I do because I consider it a part of my ministry.”
The great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., quoted above, was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign’s adherence to nonviolence in its mission to overcome racial inequality. Dr. King, inspired by Gandhi’s success with nonviolent activism, said Gandhi “greatly revealed the working of the Spirit of God…. by using….only the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury and courage."
A spiritual Experience
In 1956, Dr. King was contemplating quitting the civil rights movement. He had been receiving a considerable number of death threats and was rightly concerned. In his book, Stride Toward Freedom, Dr. King writes:
“I was ready to give up. With my cup of coffee sitting untouched before me, I tried to think of a way to move out of the picture without appearing a coward. In this state of exhaustion, when my courage had all but gone, I decided to take my problem to God. With my head in my hands, I bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud.
”The words I spoke to God that midnight are still vivid in my memory. ‘I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But now I am afraid. The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they too will falter. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I've come to the point where I can't face it alone.’
”At that moment, I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced God before. It seemed as though I could hear the quiet assurance of an inner voice saying: ‘Stand up for justice, stand up for truth; and God will be at your side forever.’ Almost at once my fears began to go. My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything.”
A bomb exploded in his house three days later.
"Strangely enough I accepted the word of the bombing calmly. My religious experience a few nights before had given me the strength to face it. We must meet hate with love. Remember, If I am stopped, this movement will not stop because God is with this movement. Go home with this glorious faith and radiant assurance."
“The day the power of love overrules the love of power the world will know peace."
—Mahatma Gandhi
Ukrainian folklore characterizes pysanky as a symbolic, talismanic writing that invokes a higher Universal Power for help, while believing with faithful certainty that It will. The contemporary version of this characterization is a paper-and-pen journaling practice called prayer writing that develops a personal relationship with God.
Copyright © 2021 Nancy Kopack.
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