Peter Donohue, Times Writers GroupPublished 5:00 p.m. CT Feb. 17, 2020
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I recently ran across this incredible quote: “Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God.”
I immediately thought of “Living Buddha, Living Christ,” one of my favorite books by Thich Nhat Hanh. If not authored by him then perhaps Thomas Merton. Much to my surprise I discovered the author was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I should not have been surprised, but I all too often think of Dr. King as a civil rights activist, one whose life was dedicated to peaceful civil disobedience, a Gandhi-like warrior of equal rights and a voice for the downtrodden.
I fail to place in perspective that all those external acts of Dr. King were rooted in a deep spiritual conviction and an essential belief in Jesus Christ. This quote from Dr. King was only recently discovered, a handwritten note on an obscure piece of paper. Authenticated it sold at auction.
Is there any doubt in the accuracy of this quote? No. For it is the identical message of Jesus Christ delivered in a slightly different way. This message that both men left us places love as the dominant commandment, the all-important force. Jesus brought the new commandment, love of God and neighbor as opposed to a list of don’ts or thou shall nots.
Both men lived an example of what to do; not what not to do – the benchmark of the Old Testament.
The parish I belong to held a concert in mid-February to honor Dr. King during Black History month. The concert was titled “Are we there yet?” The obvious answer is a resounding NO, especially as white supremacy has reared its ugly head and crimes and angry words of violence are commonplace.
A few years ago, I would have said that we had made great progress since King’s death in ‘68. Now I have to say with great sadness; I don’t think so. Are we there yet? No, and it truly seems like we are losing ground.
I fluctuate between thinking the racial animus, expressed in violent outbursts at demonstrations and evidenced in acts of violence, was here all along but had become politically incorrect; unacceptable and fearing that it has been fueled again as the perceived cause of economic disparity and loss of social status as our society becomes more diverse. I don’t know if we will ever know the answer to my uncertainty.
We do know that those who are currently acting out have been encouraged and fueled by a foreign propaganda campaign meant to sow discord in our country.
A different discord was present at the time of Dr. King’s death. A discord that was just as destructive, divisive and deadly. The fight for racial equality was being led by Dr. King and others. The seeds of a second divisive issue were sowed as people began to question our involvement in the Vietnam War. Both issues that surfaced in violent conflict were homegrown issues rightly brought to the forefront by our own social circumstance.
The immorality of our involvement in the Vietnam War was most vividly demonstrated by the self-immolation of Buddhist monks in Vietnam. I only recently discovered that the monks viewed this as an act of compassion, an act of peace, not an act of violence. It was a dramatic way to be heard that the Vietnamese wanted peace not war; that the war was being fueled by others at their expense and fought on their homeland.
Thich Nhat Hahn wrote Dr. King in 1965 that “some of us in Vietnam had immolated ourselves in protest against the war. I explained that it was not an act of suicide, or of despair; it was an act of love.”
Dr. King and Thich Nhat Hahn were both members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an organization devoted to finding peaceful solutions to problems.A year before Dr. King’s death he joined Thich Nhat Hahn in demanding an end to the war in Vietnam.
The war in Vietnam ended and there has been peace there for many years. It seemed like we made strides in equality for all in our country until recent years.
I think it important to go back to those words of Dr. King, “Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God.”
This is the opinion of Peter Donohue, who has been involved in the arts in Central Minnesota for more than 35 years. His column is published the third Tuesday of the month.