Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

[Guest guest]

My dearest friends and Siblings,

Today is the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin

Luther King, Jr. Next Monday is a national holiday in

his honor here in the United States; Amercians for

some reason believe that all holidays should be on

Monday. But today is Rev. King's real birthday, so

please allow me to honor him today.

Rev. King was a Christian minister, the son of

another Christian minister. He was born in the City of

Atlanta in the US State of Georgia. He was a

descendant of slaves brought to the United States from

Africa many years earlier, yet he earned a unique and

special place of honor in that nation that did his

ancestors such wrong.

In the 1950s, Rev. King became a spokesperson for

what was known as the Civil Rights Movement. At that

time, black people were kept separate from white

people in many states in the USA. The law mandated

that there be separate schools, separate restaurants,

separate hospitals, separate theaters, etc. The white

people who wrote these laws claimed that black people

and white people were being treated equally, but

everyone knew that this was a lie. Black schools were

vastly inferior to white schools, black restaurants

inferior to white restaurants, etc.

Rev. King and many other people in the 1950s

sought to change this so that black people and white

people could truly be treated equally. Rev. King was a

powerful and persuasive speaker. He inspired black

people to rally together to fight injustice, and he

changed the minds of many white people as well. Thus

he spoke to all Americans.

By the 1960s, some black people had become

frustrated with the struggle and resorted to violence.

Rev. King, however, refused. He followed the leads of

Thoreau and Gandhi in opposing violence. It is sadly

ironic that he himself suffered a violent death, shot

dead by an assassin in 1968.

The work that Rev. King pursued is not yet

complete, nor shall it ever be. The segregation laws

in the United States are gone, swept into the trashbin

of history alongside apartheid and the concentration

camp. But there is still mistrust between peoples,

here in the USA and in many other countries. Sometimes

this is overt and visible; other times is is subtle

and invisible. But it still exists.

Rev. King once stated that he had a dream. He

dreamt that someday, each person should be judged "not

by the color of his skin but by the content of his

character." I share that dream. The color of a

person's skin is no more important than the color of

that person's hat. Equally as insignificant is the

name by which one addresses the Divine; the Great

Mother has been called by many thousands of names

(Jesus, Kali, Allah, Krishna, Buddha, Yahweh,

Coatlicue, and many more). She listens to all honest

and worthy prayers.

What is important is whether a person's heart is

filled with love and compassion or fear and hatred.

Let us fill our own hearts with love, even when hatred

fills the air around us. Let us show mercy for those

who offer none to us. Let us be patient in the face of

haste, gentle in the face of harshness. And let us

forever cherish and encourage those characters in

others, regardless of color, regardless of faith.

Peace and love to you today and every day.

 

Sister Usha

 

=====

Sister Usha Devi

Founder, Divinely Female and worshipper of the Sacred Flame that shines inside

every woman

 

 

 

Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.

http://mailplus.

[Guest guest]

Dear Sister Usha,

 

You certainly speak the truth here! Thank you so much for your very timely post.

If I may, I would like to pass this along to one of my young daughters, who is

doing a report on Rev. King for a school project. You have said so well what

many others have tried to put into words. Peace and much love to you as well!

Lynne