It Was Beautiful One Night
It was beautiful, it was so beautiful one night
we all began to expect God would speak
from the waves reaching towards
the millet fields,
from the mouths of the hanging sky
ornaments crooning in light's infinite codes,
from the glance of children and plants
and hills playing with effulgent life.
It was beautiful, it was so beautiful one night
we all began to expect God would speak.
In the Bible, God literally spoke to humans. Nowadays, for whatever reason, and at least to my knowledge, this does not "literally" occur. Conversely, I do believe God speaks "through" humans - through their messages or actions, through certain feelings that just seem so compelling and thoughts that seem ethereal. Throughout history, it is safe to say that a few treasured souls have come into this world, leaving us with more grace. One of them was Martin Luther King Jr.
In his final speech, I've Been To The Mountaintop, he recounts the story of the Good Samaritan. "And so the first question that the priest asked - the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" That's the question before you tonight. Not, "If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job. Not, "If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?" The question is not, "If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?" The question is, "If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?" That's the question."
It's difficult to comprehend exactly how beautiful this notion is. Here is a man who has known suffering, who could "expect" reparation from this world. But no, he believed "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?”
So each year, Americans around the country attempt to answer that question today - on MLK Day, a day of service. “Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
Furthermore, King's message(s) can be lived every day. In his aforementioned speech, King went on to say that when they turned the fire hoses on, all they knew was conventional physics, but what they didn't know is that there is a "certain kind of fire that no water could put out". We begin to live when we recognize this fire in our own life, the one that we'll go up in flames to join.
It was beautiful, it was so beautiful one night
we all began to expect God would speak
from the waves reaching towards
the millet fields,
from the mouths of the hanging sky
ornaments crooning in light's infinite codes,
from the glance of children and plants
and hills playing with effulgent life.
It was beautiful, it was so beautiful one night
we all began to expect God would speak.
In the Bible, God literally spoke to humans. Nowadays, for whatever reason, and at least to my knowledge, this does not "literally" occur. Conversely, I do believe God speaks "through" humans - through their messages or actions, through certain feelings that just seem so compelling and thoughts that seem ethereal. Throughout history, it is safe to say that a few treasured souls have come into this world, leaving us with more grace. One of them was Martin Luther King Jr.
In his final speech, I've Been To The Mountaintop, he recounts the story of the Good Samaritan. "And so the first question that the priest asked - the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" That's the question before you tonight. Not, "If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job. Not, "If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?" The question is not, "If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?" The question is, "If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?" That's the question."
It's difficult to comprehend exactly how beautiful this notion is. Here is a man who has known suffering, who could "expect" reparation from this world. But no, he believed "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?”
So each year, Americans around the country attempt to answer that question today - on MLK Day, a day of service. “Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
Furthermore, King's message(s) can be lived every day. In his aforementioned speech, King went on to say that when they turned the fire hoses on, all they knew was conventional physics, but what they didn't know is that there is a "certain kind of fire that no water could put out". We begin to live when we recognize this fire in our own life, the one that we'll go up in flames to join.
MLK At Home
Photograph by Flip Schulke
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