The Strength to Love
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I've been pondering about this time we are in and all that is happening. Perhaps you too are alarmed or even despairing at the social division, rampant misinformation, climate catastrophes, human suffering, threats to democracy, and ongoing struggles so many people face.
If ever there was a time to turn to the wisdom of those who have gone before through their own trials and fires, who sought guidance from those who went before them, and then left us their example and insights, this is the time.
I turned yesterday to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who in his time turned to Mahatma Gandhi, Henry David Thoreau, and Leo Tolstoy. I wanted to go beyond the short videos or inspiring social media quotes, and in a more meaningful way try to hear from him.
I don't know about you, but I'm appalled at my shrinking attention span, and I'm trying to challenge myself to more longform reading. In that spirit, I sought to read Dr. King's words.
I turned to his book, “Strength to Love," a book of sermons published in 1963 and dug around to learn more about the volume. This background information from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University was helpful.
I learned that, in 1957, he proposed to write a book of sermons but made little progress. It was not until he was "arrested for holding a prayer vigil outside Albany City Hall" (please let that sink in) and was jailed with Ralph Abernathy in squalid conditions for two weeks in July of 1962 that he seized that time to start working on the sermons. After his release, he continued working on the volume even while preparing for the Birmingham Campaign, a massive direct action human rights effort confronting the city's segregation system.
The book was published later in 1963, though editors removed some of his language related to segregation as a national practice, the need for the transformation of capitalism, and anti-war statements. According to Stanford scholars, despite these omissions, the book is considered “a concrete testament to King's lifelong commitment to preach the social gospel…[promoting] King's vision of love as a potent social and political force for change…"
I was drawn to read Chapter One, “A tough mind and a tender heart” which he penned on June 5, 1963.
I invite you to join me in reading it yourself. This selection is eight pages long which certainly pushes past 280 characters or 10 second soundbites!
It's interesting that, according to the Stanford article, Dr. King was concerned that these sermons were meant to be heard, not read. He worried, even as they were published, that they would not be as convincing or impactful in this form. But I could find no recordings of him delivering this sermon to share instead.
Out of respect for his concerns, I decided to read these eight pages out loud to myself to at least hear his words, even if just in my voice. I invite you to try this too. While reading, perhaps imagine what he sounded like preaching these words in that voice and cadence now so familiar to us from recordings. And then after reading, ponder…
What strikes you in Dr. King's sermon, particularly realizing that he is speaking to his community struggling under oppression, injustice, discrimination, and threats of harm?
What do you make of his admonition to be integrated in mind and heart?
Do you struggle more with one or the other, being tough minded or tender hearted? What might you do to bring more wholeness?
As a Loving Leader, how does being both tough of mind and tender of heart apply to you in the challenges you face?
I'd be honored to hear your reflections.
