Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. -Martin Luther King, Jr.
Beloved Friends,
This past Monday we once again remembered the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Since 1986, Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been an invitation to recognize and celebrate King’s life and contributions as a national civil rights leader who challenged the racial caste system in America offering both hope and a clarion call to racial equality and freedom-a vision we still strive for today.
Of his many meaningful speeches, sermons and writings, it is the brief quote above that resonates today with me as I think about where we are in the life of the church. We have entered the season of Epiphany- the weeks between now and the beginning of Lent. It is a season when we focus on the life and teachings of Jesus during his lifetime- his epiphaneia (appearing, in Greek) directly to his followers.
Last week, at the invitation of one of our members, I spent an evening at Aurora House. The mission of Aurora is to provide a comprehensive housing and life skills program that empowers homeless women and their children to achieve self-sufficiency and independence by providing resources and learning opportunities in a supportive and safe environment (Aurora). I went empty handed responding only to the invitation to “come and see” and what I saw moved me deeply. Women with courage and conviction beyond anything I could fathom, living together, working through the demons and challenges in their lives in order to find and make a new way in this world. One by one as they spoke I was witness to the kind of light and love I am sure Martin Luther King Jr was referencing. I left that evening being reminded that indeed it is only light and love- the hard and fought for kind that can and will drive out darkness and hate- within ourselves and around us. These women were my teachers that night and a reminder of how important it is we seek out and walk with each other day by day.
We are called to learn the lesson King points to as we live in and through our differences at times. It takes courage and compassion to engage honestly with someone who is different and may not agree with you on things large or small. But that was Jesus’ dream as well and his call to us to be reconciled one to the other is as real and needed today as it was when Jesus called his first followers.
We all need authentic places to be known and loved where we are encouraged to plant and then grow the kind of love Martin Luther King Jr. died trying to point us towards. A kind of love that drives out hate; a kind of love that risks knowing and being known by people different from ourselves-whatever the difference may be. I pray every day that is the kind of Beloved community we are building together.
May you never forget you are loved.
Lisa