Honoring a New Hampshire Saint on Martin Luther King Day

Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a native of Keene, New Hampshire, was killed in Alabama on August 20, 1965. He was a 26 year old Episcopal seminary student who gave his life so that an African-American teenager, Ruby Sales, would not be harmed. He is rightly considered a Christian martyr and a saint of the church whose feast day on the church calendar is August 14.

Daniels and Sales are two of the countless people--people of different ethnicities, religions, ages, backgrounds, and political beliefs--who participated in the civil rights movement and helped to bring about the transformation of our nation.

I'm reminded of Daniels today because of an excellent column in today's Boston Globe by Adrian Walker, "On King holiday, honoring heroes," that focuses on Daniels passion and sacrifice. Beyond his willingness to give his life, Daniels' commitment, as a white northerner, reminds us that real transformation in our nation--a transformation that is ongoing today--comes when we open ourselves to those who are different from us.

As Ruby Sales said (as quoted in Walker's column): "If I had never met Jonathan Daniels, I would have only had a monolithic view of white people and he would have had one view of black people. We opened each other's worlds so we could see each other's humanity. That's really what the movement was about."

Following Jonathan's and Ruby's examples, perhaps the best thing to remember on this Martin Luther King Day is that the world will only become a better place when we open ourselves to relationships with those who differ from us, with those who are often separated from us. When we do this, we not only "see each other's humanity," we create community.

I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read Walker's column in the Globe. Not only does he give a fuller picture of Daniels' life and commitment than I've giving here, but he articulates the essence of what this national holiday is truly about.

46 Years Later: An Advent Message We Still Need to Hear

On this date, December 10, in 1964, Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The United States has come a long way in 46 years, but we still live in a nation and world filled with too much injustice, oppression, poverty, and violence. King's words in his Nobel acceptance speech—which resonate from his deep Christian faith—are a good reminder of the need to live with an active hope and faith so that Christ can be known in the world.

Here are a few of his words from 1964:

"I accept this award with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the 'isness' of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'oughtness' that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. . . .

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. I believe that even amid today's mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will proclaim the rule of the land. 'And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid.' I still believe that We Shall overcome!"

Now that is an Advent message!

Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! In the meantime, empower us to proclaim and bear witness to the coming of your kingdom today and always.

Barriers Breaking, Dreams, and Faith

I turned on the TV at just the right time yesterday evening. I had expected to watch the evening news, not to witness an historic moment. But that's exactly what happened as I watched the last 20 minutes or so of the roll call at the Democratic National Convention. In an ironic twist, Hillary Rodham Clinton moved that the convention elect Barack Obama by acclimation to be its nominee for President of the United States. And with an explosion of cheers and a great many tears, Obama became the first African-American to be officially nominated by a major political party for President.

Whatever one's political persuasion or party, it was a moment to celebrate.

As I watched I found myself close to tears. I wondered why. I am a 45 year old white, heterosexual man who grew up in an upper middle class family in Virginia. I have not experienced the "walls" and "ceilings" that have been barriers to minorities and people on the margins for so long. I have not experienced discrimination and I have not been the subject of prejudice. I've not lost opportunities because of the color or my skin or my sexual orientation or my gender. Society's doors have been opened for me throughout my life.

Perhaps my tears had something to do with my daughter's reaction. Her attitude was "What's the big deal?" This had nothing to do with the fact that she's too young to vote or doesn't care. She reacted this way because she is growing up in a generation that believes anyone can achieve anything. For her, an African-American man or a white woman being nominated to be President (or being elected President) feels absolutely normal. That's a change to celebrate! Alleluia!!

So, what does any of this have to do with living faithfully in the 21st century village? Well, I'm struck by what I'll call the "prophetic timing" of Obama's nomination. Nominated yesterday, he will make his acceptance speech on the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington in 1963 when Martin Luther King gave his famous, "I Have a Dream" speech.

I took some time today to listen to and re-read the speech (see the link below, if you'd like to do the same). The speech is not overtly religious. He sprinkles in a couple of biblical verses, but it is definitely a speech for a civic event, not a sermon for a religious gathering.

What makes the speech religious (or spiritual, if you prefer) is the faith that is at its heart. King's passion and determination are driven and supported by his faith. He trusts and believes that someday, somehow, this dream will be fulfilled. He stated this most clearly when he said:

"This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."

We need faith. We cannot live without it. Faith allows us to dream, to break down barriers, to walk forward when we want to retreat. Faith allows us to see not only the world as it is but also the world as it should and can be. Faith empowers us and sustains us.

We need spiritual communities, formal gatherings of people who seek God. We need this not to ensure that we go to heaven, but to empower us to live passionately and faithfully in the world. We need communities that are not consumed with institutional preservation but are willing to, as a parishioner of mine just wrote to me, "be creative and break some molds." And we must break these molds soon before we lose a generation of young people who want to be spiritually alive but not institutionally bound.

I have much more to say about that, but I'll save that for another entry. If you want to read and listen to Martin Luther King's speech, you will find it at http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm.

I invite your comments and thoughts. Please join the conversation. Thanks!