Martin Luther King was a prophet, not in
the sense that he saw the future (though he did), that is not what a prophet does.
A prophet is not a seer, or an augurer. He was not a prophet in the sense that
he had a unique channel to God, the creator of the universe, or that God spoke
to him in a privileged way.
God speaks to all of us in the same way,
and that is one of the things that the Reverend Doctor spoke to us about, the
responsibility we all have to listen to the demands of our conscience when we
here it speaking to our hearts.
Martin Luther King had no more and no less
access to supernatural powers than any of us, what made him different was that he
chose to listen.
He listened to the voice of God that
speaks to each and every one of us. He heard the voice of God and he responded
to the call by cleaving to the message and sharing it with the world.
He loved mercy, he worked for justice and
he walk humbly, as an example to us all.
There are many memes circulating today of
the good Reverend Doctor, memes like the picture I have pasted at the beginning
of this essay.
Today we are given countless opportunities
to reflect on his likeness, to consider his words, to reflect on their meaning
and on the life of an American Saint (if there ever was one), and we are wise
to do so.
We are wise to remember the man, Martin
Luther King Jr., a rare person whose measure exceeded the ordinary flaws that
make us all human, he lived beyond them.
Martin Luther King Jr. transcended even
death, though he was taken by the assassin’s bullet. He lives now in our collective consciousness, our collective
conscience, in our global psyche, speaking to us from the dimension of myth; a
human being who was more than human, a child of God, a man overflowing with
grace and wisdom, sharing its cup so that upon drinking we may aspire to do the
same.
He spoke truth to power, and offered hope to
the powerless, and he was murdered for it.
He was once considered by the director of
the F.B.I. to be the most dangerous man in America, and from that status he became
our most beloved hero, the prime exemplar of what it means to be an American.
He was beaten and arrested dozens of times
for the crime of seeking justice.
His life was threatened daily. His
reputation was smeared without regard for the truth, or appreciation for his
selfless works.
He was killed for his efforts, shot down,
but not destroyed.
He was, and continues to be an example to
us all.
Our prophet, The Reverend Doctor Martin
Luther King Jr. still points the way, lighting the long journey that still lies
ahead of us, a journey toward justice that will not be denied.
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