Martin Luther King, Jr. provides truthful, forthright thoughts on faith, culture, and politics in the United States. Coretta Scott King says that, of all her late husband's writings, Strength to Love is the work that people most consistently describe as life-changing. Here are the key insights from his book.
The complete human is a combination of tough-mindedness and tenderheartedness.
A strong human being is one that has sets of opposing traits working simultaneously within him. "It is when thesis and antithesis are powerfully present within a person, creatively interacting, that life is at its fullest." Most people do not strike this balance between opposite traits.
Jesus seemed to recognize the need to blend opposites. Jesus instructed his disciples to, "be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." It does not seem possible but, it is what Jesus expects. What does it look like to maintain this blend?
Jesus' teaching is a call for us to have both a tough mind and a tender heart. Tough-mindedness is necessary to persevere in the midst of struggle. Without it, there is no fortitude to stick with commitment. The soft-minded are taken in by advertisements, propaganda, and false facts. They are easily blown off course.
Of course, tough-mindedness alone is inadequate. It needs to work in tandem with soft-heartedness. Without it, tough-mindedness becomes cold and mean, incapable of compassion. Tough-mindedness without tenderheartedness is severe and bitter; tenderheartedness without tough-mindedness is saccharine and directionless.
Loving your enemy means looking for opportunities to build friendship and understanding instead of chances to humiliate them.
Jesus' command to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us might be his most difficult injunction. Jesus was not ignorant of how challenging it is to love an enemy, but, he still insists on it. So how exactly do we love our enemies?
First and foremost, we must develop and hold on to the ability to forgive. Without the power to forgive, there is no power to love. Forgiveness initiates a process of reconciliation--literally, a coming together again.
Second, we must remember that no evil deed of our enemy-neighbor defines him. There is goodness even in your worst enemy and evil even in your kindest friend, and there is a civil war raging in each of us throughout our lives.
Third, we are not out to humiliate our enemy-neighbor, but to become his friend. The enemy's misstep is not an opportunity for us to exploit him, but to create understanding, to let waves of goodwill crash against hate's defenses.
A culture that believes that bigger is better is terrified of standing for minority opinion and unpopular causes.
"Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2
There is an onslaught of voices urging us to keep the status quo, to go with the crowd, and not to defend an unpopular cause. These influences are subliminal and all the more power for it.
Jesus himself was a paragon of principled nonconformity and his example still speaks to our modern times. He reminds us that our lives do not consist of our possessions. So the big car and big house do not make us better or more important--whatever society might tell us. Jesus also tells us that we are blessed when we are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. But that blessing comes to those who choose the path of conviction rather than comfort.
That is not to say that nonconformity is inherently good. There are plenty of people who are nonconformists who are bitter and unwilling to change themselves. They tend to be angry, embittered people who are ready to change everything but, their own attitude. Only inner transformation will lead us to fight injustice with humility and kindness.
Our goal is not to rid ourselves of fear but, to master it.
Is there a single person who has never experienced pervasive and paralyzing fear that will not leave? These fears take many shapes and forms.
Fear can not be completely eliminated and this is actually a good thing. Fear has enabled us to survive over the millennia. It has the power to inspire creativity and courage. The goal is not to rid ourselves of fear but, to master it. How is this done?
First of all, we master fear by facing it down and seeing it for what it is. This is empowering and often takes the force from fear.
We also master fear through courage. Courage is what unites reason and desire.
A third way we master fear is through love. The scriptures tell us that perfect love casts out fear. Love disrupts the cycle of fear leading to hate leading to war leading to deeper hate.
Fear is also mastered through faith. Psychotherapy is useful for confronting abnormal fears of life, but, to what extent can it help us with deeper existential-fears of death and non-being? The psychiatrist is limited in these regards if he is not a man of religious faith because it is faith that provides the strength of mind to face life's greatest strains and uncertainties with fortitude and a sense of purpose. A universe without meaning and purpose sets the stage for despair it saps even the most optimistic of courage and zeal for life. Religion gives us the confidence that we are not alone in this universe. We are not debris aimlessly meandering through time and space, but beloved children of the Most High God who pays attention to every detail of life, from the motions of the planets to the modest sparrow.
References
King Jr., Martin Luther (1963). Strength to Love.
Boston: Beacon Press.
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