I am practically left speechless by these profound words from Dr. King, which I heard yesterday and have been pondering ever since. It's possible I have never felt these words until this past year, never had the capacity to understand them. And yet they seem to be true. The idea that my character, my well being, my hope, my pain, are unequivocally connected to these things in mankind, in the people that I share in this life with, is an idea that I hope will one day flourish in my own life.
Through our scientific and technological genius, we have made of this world a neighborhood and yet we have not had the ethical commitment to make of it a brotherhood. But somehow, and in some way, we have got to do this. We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools. We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way God’s universe is made; this is the way it is structured.
John Donne caught it years ago and placed it in graphic terms: "No man is an island entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." And he goes on toward the end to say, "Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind; therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." We must see this, believe this, and live by it if we are to remain awake through a great revolution.
- From Remaining Awake During A Great Revolution, sermon preached March 31, 1968, at the National Cathedral in Washington DC - the last Sunday sermon by Dr. King.
6 comments:
Thanks for this Josh. I don't think I've ever taken the time to read through Dr. King's sermon.
Robert F. Kennedy, quoting Aeschylus upon the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. {4-4-1968}:
He Who Learns Must Suffer
"And even in our sleep,
pain which cannot forget
Falls drop by drop upon the heart
until, in our own despair
against our will,
comes wisdom to us
through the awful grace of God."
The viciousness, that such a man as this should be gunned down in cold blood---
Thank you for upholding his words, his life, his truth, his witness.
Cathy in Missouri
There's some power right here. It would behoove all of us to take this to heart. Thank you so much for sharing, for being a piece of Dr. King's legacy. Sending peace your way, friend.
xo
Those are words to ponder but we still choose who we talk too, who we relate too and who we share our lives with depending on what commanality we share with them, wether it be status, beliefs, loss, etc and because of that man will be forever devided. If we all took this heart, well I cant imagine what the world would be like. Love to you, your family and Margot.
May be you know this already, but here is the latest scientific explanation for our "inter-connectivity". It is fascinating stuff!
http://www.ted.com/talks/vs_ramachandran_the_neurons_that_shaped_civilization.html#.TxrzHFBx1Yc.facebook
Remember hearing from a TedWomen talk, a male speaker who said, "My liberation as a man is tied to your liberation as a woman."
Can't find the quote, but remember in enviro-circles speak of pulling one thread (perhaps one marsh, one species) and finding it attached to the entire rug of the ecosystem.
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