Today in the US, we celebrate and honor the memory and accomplishments of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We invite in his spirit into our life. We acknowledge the positive qualities of ancestors and the many blessings that we continue to benefit from their lives: past, present, and future.
On reflecting on Dr. King, I ponder what it is we are celebrating. My thoughts return to Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh’s discussion of power. This understanding of power as “the ability to influence people” and how we use this influence is one of the many reasons why Dr. King is remembered all year, and celebrated today. Using this ability to influence for good, motivated by a heart of love, this is Dr. King’s legacy. Not using this influence to cause harm, to separate, or to lie, this is his legacy. This is true power.
Power can be edgy. With influence one can become greedy, selfish, and loose sight of what is right. What helps us stay the path of love and benefit? This would be the people around us, the conditions, nurturing our mind of compassion. Who surrounded Dr. King? That would be the movement that was already in existence and building when Dr. King became more active in the 1950s-1960s Civil Rights Movement in the US. That would be the context of his dedication to his faith, love, his study of theology and philosophy, and his pastoring in a Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL. These were the conditions, the supporting context that assured Dr. King’s influence grew, and grew more compassionate and just. This is true power.
Dr. King’s continued self-inquiry- in the pulpit, in the jail cell, in public protest, in family life, in community groups- assured that his power remained humble, of the people, and in the service of justice. His continued self-inquiry assured that he would not become corrupt. His consistent quest for understanding how we could build beloved communities of justice included his prophetic influence calling for love to be our ground of being.
“Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Today we again celebrate this type of power, true power, by acknowledging Dr. King’s existence and his legacy. Dr. King’s prophetic power in calling for an end to poverty, to assure that we don’t annihilate ourselves and our planet, plays out today. This is seen in the recent report from Oxfam stating: “extreme concentrations of wealth led to weaker growth, corrupted politics and the media, corroded democracy and led to political polarisation… The super-rich were key contributors to the climate crisis, with a billionaire emitting a million times more carbon than the average person. They were also twice as likely to invest in polluting industries, compared with the average investor.”
In a world that continues to build its kingdom of militarism, racism, and poverty let us celebrate ancestor Dr. King, in a sacred way: with action. Let us act together into our most true form of power: collective power. Find your power and gift it for the collective liberation of all humans and the earth. This is true power to our ancestors, let us move forward Beloved Community.