Prescient:
The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality, we will find ourselves organizing "clergy and laymen concerned" committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
What will it take, I often wonder, to produce a significant and profound change in American life and policy? When will we move from soul-sucking, life denying and murderous ideology into a more compassionate, enlightened understanding that if we lift each other up instead of crushing one another, we will all reap great rewards? Heaven here on earth? We don't need to make it complicated; it's as simple as truly treating each other as our kin. Doing unto others...
If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
There must be peace in the home.
There must be peace in the heart.
— Lao Tzu (570-490 B.C.)
We have been struggling with this for as long as we have been on the planet. Perhaps it is not in our nature to truly practice peace. For many however, throughout the ages, it is a dream and a desire deep within us.
Thank you, Dr. King. Thank you, and a thousand deep bows.
Yes.
ReplyDeleteAh, this must be the plight of humanity, for those who have a vision of peace thwarted century after century by those blinded by their own greed, ignorance, and thirst for power. It's always heartening when a voice comes and speaks the words out loud that our hearts want to hear. Later there are always guns.
ReplyDeleteI don't have anything original to say today, but if I did it would combine these thoughts:
ReplyDeleteThere must be peace in the heart.
(Lao Tzu)
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)
I believe in the impossible.
(Bob Dylan)