The
Musings 12
Monday,
January 21
Read:
John 12: 20-33
Today this nation remembers
Martin Luther King Jr. A day when this nation and the world remembers role that
this revolutionary civil right leader played re writing the history of United
States, one who inspired millions of African Americans in their fight for
justice, for human dignity and rights. In 1906, much before Martin Luther King
started his famous civil rights movement; a young lawyer named Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi adopted a non violent protest in South Africa against a
government order of compulsory registering of Indian population. Though the
government used violent method to quell the protest, the young Gandhi adopted
complete non violent means of protest- The Satyagraha. Years later when Martin
Luther King was a student at Crozer Theological Seminary, Chester,
Pennsylvania, in his presentation at the theology class, King included Gandhi as an individual who greatly revealed the working of the Spirit of God and who later
stated that "Christ showed us the way and Gandhi in India through his non
violent protest showed it could work". One of remarks that King later made
in his life was that he considered Gandhi as the greatest Christian in the
modern world. On this day as we remember Martin Luther King, we need to
understand that such was a influence of Gandhi on Martin Luther King. A leader
who never forsook the path of non-violence even it meant danger to his life.
History states that when he gave
leadership to boycott of public transportation system in Montgomery for de-segregation
of seats on buses, a caller warned him of dire consequences if he ever came back to Montgomery. Few days
later his house was bombed. As angry African Americans gathered outside his
house chanting slogans and wanting to retaliate, when King found out that his
family was safe, he began talking with the protesters and told them to just go
home. Later when three young girls were killed in bombing during one of his demonstration,
King went through deep depression at the loss of human life but he proclaimed
" in spite of the darkness of this hour, we must not become bitter, nor
must we harbor the desire to retaliate with violence". Here is a leader
ready to sacrifice and lay down his life but will never adopt the way of
violence but walk the path of peace and justice. His famous speech at the
Lincoln memorial " I have a dream" is one of the most prophetic
speeches given by a leader, a call of hope and a life giving support to a community
that was fighting their back against the wall, the fight for basic right and
justice. In the last days of his life, Martin Luther King was little
disillusioned as his fight for civil rights was going nowhere and many of his colleagues
started opposing him in the means that he adopted to give leadership to the
civil rights movement. They wanted him to shun the nonviolent means and also
think about alternate ways of spearheading the civil rights movement so that
they could be more powerful, but King opposed it. Even in the final moments of
his life, as he came to Memphis to lead a peaceful rally in support of garbage
workers, he opposed all sorts of violent action. Ultimately, it was the violent
action of shooter James Earl Ray that ultimately silenced King, but not his
words nor his principles. Today when looking at the legacy that Martin Luther
King has left behind we find, communities and race, people of different
religion fighting, trying to assert themselves in manner that is threatening
and violent. Even Church has began stooping down, and adopting any means and so
as to forcibly snatch rights through the label or tag of being a minority. No
wonder that in a country like in India, especially in a state like Kerala, the
majority sometimes seems to be at the mercy of the minority. In such a context
how does the legacy of Martin Luther King, becomes significant?. This also
needs to be seen with respect to the message that our Lord has
taught us with regards to the legacy and the witness that the church need to
carry on in this world to make it presence significant and relevant?.
In the Gospel of
John 12:20-33, we find a very interesting passage about Jesus teaching his
disciples what it means to be glorified. It is the dream of every human being
that their life should exemplify some element of glory. Glory that could be attained
through power that they wield, or
because of the authority that they have been given, the position that they have
in church or society or may be through
the social status because of their cast or race or may be are financially rich.
But Jesus brings a new understanding of what it means to be glorified. Jesus
tells the disciple that his concept of glory is compared to a grain of wheat. Wheat
is useless if it remains all by itself. But if the wheat falls to the ground
and dies, then only will it be able to produce much fruit. Moreover Jesus says
that one should not be concerned about loving ones life on the contrary one
should be ready to loose ones life and it is only then we can really find life
and the true meaning of life. Here is Jesus emphasizing that life is not about
preservation and forceful living by making ourselves more and more powerful,
either through more acquisition of power and authority but a conscious decision
to make oneself vulnerable, conscious decision,
whereby I shed the so called powers of authority that I try to wield over
others and be willing to exterminate and annihilate all forms of self glory and
self preservation. When we are able to do that, our objective and mission of life becomes a life
that is lived for common good, for the fight for the right of other who are
less fortunate than myself. It is sad that we as church are more concerned about
our self preservation, doing everything so as to propagate the legacy of power
and authority that we wield to the
community. Thus sometimes our church buildings,
our so called projects in the parish and church are symbols to show to the
community how powerful we are. Bigger the church bigger the symbol of power
that we want to show others. It is in this context that as we remember Martin
Luther King Jr, let us consciously see to it that our life that we live is not
a means of self glorification and brute show of power and authority but
willingness to stoop down, humble ourselves, to ascribe no self value, so as to
bring glory to God and a new meaning and perspective to our life.
