Spiritual Wisdom of the Week
by: Rabbi Michael Lerner on February 25th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
San Francisco, June 30, 1964
This week’s spiritual wisdom comes from civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr.:
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads to the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
Yes, and truth has a power to make us free while physical force, and even hateful and disrespectful speech can enslave us.
Peace
I totally agree. We live in a world now that floods us with fear, warfare, and greed. If me meet it with the same then that’s what we’ll get, more of it. We often here fight for this, fight for that. It’s even in our languaging. The third polarity which most miss is neutral. To neautralize fear, greed, and warfare, we must meet it with love, peace and generosity. Blessing!