To my family and the rest of the nation in the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King was a sign of hope.
In a keynote address at a Luther League Convention in 1961, an event sponsored by the American Lutheran Church for Lutheran youth, Dr. King spoke about agape (a Greek word for unconditional love), the love of God operating in the human heart. “Love is the most durable power in all the world, and it is through love that we will solve this problem that is destroying our nation and the nations of the world,” he said.
Many who knew Rev. King well called him the “love doctor.” He banned all weapons and any form of retaliation. When his bodyguards asked him how they would protect him with no guns, he answered, “With love.”
This love thing takes work. Love has everything to do with how people of faith become the difference they want to see.
“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve,” Dr. King said. How might you serve with love today?
This message is excerpted from “His mantra was love” by Valora Starr from the January 18, 2016, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today we commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr., renewer of society, martyr, 1968. Today is Martin Luther King Day.
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