Based on the book Strength to Love by American Civil Rights Activist and Christian preacher Martin Luther King, first printed in Great Britain by Hodder and Stoughton in 1964, (copyright 1963 by Martin Luther King Jr) we today look at the concept what love means in everyday action and how a nation could change when this philosophy is used in policy making.
In line with our adjoining article on ‘cultivating a mind of love,’ we can reflect what ‘Love in Action’ would mean for Sri Lanka which has suffered for around three decades facing bombs, gunfire and death.
What could a nation do to instill Love in Action to create equality, happiness, togetherness, contentment and economic as well as social stability?
We are continuing from last two weeks in appreciating this book as relevant to the times we are living in.
We turn to chapter four titled Love in Action which begins with the words Jesus Christ uttered from the cross.
‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ (Luke 21:34).
This phrase proved love ‘at its best,’ points out Martin Luther King. Jesus matched words with action, he emphasizes. Here we can understand that Jesus who was a social reformer, standing up against the religious hypocrisy and oppression of the time, all carried out in the name of ‘God.’
Martin Luther King then points to hypocrisies of our lived in world. ‘On the one hand, we proudly profess certain sublime and noble principles, but on the other hand, we sadly practice the very antithesis of these principles,’ he states. It is pertinent to mention that he preached and wrote at a time when racial segregation was the policy in the United States where the insanity of social discrimination and segregation was the everyday ‘norm.’
He thus shows the world, just as Jesus did, the paradoxical nature of how we live where we claim one thing and do another, which holds true to what we see in some parts of the world today.
‘We talk passionately about peace, and at the same time we assiduously prepare for war.’
‘We make our fervent pleas for the high road of justice and then we tread unflinchingly the low road of injustice.’
‘This strange dichotomy, this agonizing gulf between the ‘aught’ and the ‘is,’ represents the tragic theme of man’s earthly pilgrimage,’ notes Martin Luther King.
Pointing out to the consistency of Jesus in matching words with deed, he brings our attention to how Jesus talked passionately about forgiveness during his ministry in the villages of Galilee.
It is thereafter explained how Jesus answered his disciple, Peter, who wanted to know ‘how many times,’ he should forgive his neighbour, inquiring if seven times was sufficient.
‘Until seventy times seven,’ Jesus had answered, indicating the permanent attitude of forgiveness humans should possess.
We can now try and understand how these preaching and writings of Martin Luther King influenced peace, in a context of the civil rights movement where African origin Americans were struggling for equal rights in America. Martin Luther King could have created a hate based agitation, using religion for division as is calamitously the norm in this world. Yet, he stressed on forgiveness, stressed on the parable of the Good Samaritan explaining that a neighbour is anyone in need and not based on religious or any other criteria.
‘Generations will rise and fall; men will continue to worship the god of revenge and bow before the alter of retaliation, but ever and again, this noble lesson of Calvary will be a nagging reminder that only goodness can drive out evil and only love can conquer hate,’ reiterates Martin Luther King.
He further highlights that the second lesson to us on the prayer of Jesus on the cross on behalf of his murders, points to the awareness of Jesus on man’s spiritual and intellectual blindness.
Martin Luther King thereby brings our attention to societal ignorance described as blindness. Those who shouted out for Jesus to be crucified were not ‘bad’ men but rather blind men, he clarifies. In this we understand that society at the time had considered hypocrisy and discrimination as part and parcel of eulogizing ‘God,’ just as we see in the world throughout history, to date, on how many a war has a ‘religious’ root or justification.
Martin Luther King then shifts to how history killed wisdom, giving the example of philosopher Socrates, referring however to him as a ‘sage.’ Through this we can understand the thin line of linguistics along the bridge of merging themes such as cosmology, divinity, rationality and philosophy. Those who called for Socrates to end his life by drinking hemlock were not ‘bad’ men with demonic blood running through their veins but rather the generally respectful and sincere citizens of Greece, he states.
Let us now take a detour and return to the Sri Lankan context. Let us go back to the July 1983 ethnic riots. Those who burnt and killed fellow humans were not ‘bad’ or ‘demonic.’ They were ordinary devoutly religious Sri Lankan majority population. This brings us to how the dominant mindset cultivated in any nation steps from national policies that mould individual thinking and action. Let us now take another long detour to Japan. The world is mystified by how Japan remains spotlessly clean everywhere in the country despite there being no visible trash cans. This is due to the national policies of that country that has taught citizens to be respectful to all beings resulting in them carrying anything to be disposed while traveling, until they can dispose of it responsibly.
In the book Strength to Love, Martin Luther King moves from the example of the citizens of Greece who through ignorance called for the death of Socrates to Saul. ‘Saul was not an evil intentioned man when he persecuted Christians (before he became Paul and an ardent Christian).
Referring to the former mental state of ‘Saul’ it is pointed out that he was far from being an evil intentioned man when he persecuted Christians but rather a conscientious devotee of Israel’s faith.
This keeps reminding us how national policies create either blindness or an enlightened state.
As we pause the serializing of this book for today, let us look at collectively working towards national awakening. We can start by everyday acts which match the overall spiritual principles we claim to follow. As we do we can make a special rumination of what the month of May should mean to us Sri Lankans.