Sunshine (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} sollite) wrote,@ 2006-01-16 19:57:00 |
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MLK Jr. day is a national day of service and observence for Americorps. I got to volunteer on a community project in the morning, and then we had an event with music and speakers in the afternoon.
One of the speakers was a lovely actress who came to recite part of Dr.King 's "Beyond Vietnam" speech. It is a 55 minute speech, and her selected parts were about 20 minutes.
endora quoted one of the incredible lines of that speech in her journal. Here is a longer version of that quote:
"A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, 'This way of settling differences is not just.' This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
The full text of the speech, with optional sound, is here: Its time to break my silence...
Now I posted a link to the entire speech because when I checked my email I saw a headline that linked me to this article:Bush Says King's Dream Not Yet Completed
Well, the president isn't wrong.
If it weren't against my core principles, I would sincerely hate this man for uttering Dr. King's name.
I won't though, and the part in that afore mentioned speech about one's enemies is why.
I will say though, that the depth of my admiration for this man, his life, and his works has gained an astounding intensity in the past couple of years. I love him as others would love their gurus. He is "it" for me- a human so completely dedicated to compassion that he gave everything to it, including his life. He blurred the lines between "self" and "other" and in that, he became Love itself.
He suffered and died because of his love of his fellow man. Because of his love, he has been reborn into my heart and countless others. His is the way that will save us from our own damnation and it is only when his kind of love exists in every soul, there will then be Heaven on Earth. He lives on eternally in the hearts and minds of anyone who takes up the struggle for what is good, for Love.
Mr. Bush, does this sound like anyone else you look up to?
Your salvation is not in the worship and deification of your "Lord", but in the comprehension and emulation of the type of incredible soul you call your messiah.
One of the speakers was a lovely actress who came to recite part of Dr.King 's "Beyond Vietnam" speech. It is a 55 minute speech, and her selected parts were about 20 minutes.
endora quoted one of the incredible lines of that speech in her journal. Here is a longer version of that quote:
"A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, 'This way of settling differences is not just.' This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
The full text of the speech, with optional sound, is here: Its time to break my silence...
Now I posted a link to the entire speech because when I checked my email I saw a headline that linked me to this article:Bush Says King's Dream Not Yet Completed
Well, the president isn't wrong.
If it weren't against my core principles, I would sincerely hate this man for uttering Dr. King's name.
I won't though, and the part in that afore mentioned speech about one's enemies is why.
I will say though, that the depth of my admiration for this man, his life, and his works has gained an astounding intensity in the past couple of years. I love him as others would love their gurus. He is "it" for me- a human so completely dedicated to compassion that he gave everything to it, including his life. He blurred the lines between "self" and "other" and in that, he became Love itself.
He suffered and died because of his love of his fellow man. Because of his love, he has been reborn into my heart and countless others. His is the way that will save us from our own damnation and it is only when his kind of love exists in every soul, there will then be Heaven on Earth. He lives on eternally in the hearts and minds of anyone who takes up the struggle for what is good, for Love.
Mr. Bush, does this sound like anyone else you look up to?
Your salvation is not in the worship and deification of your "Lord", but in the comprehension and emulation of the type of incredible soul you call your messiah.
