It was Martin Luther King, Jr. who first got me to seriously consider the idea of love. Not when he was alive. No. I was too committed to self-righteous anger to understand that there might be power in love. Then, about 25 years ago I suppose, I started listening more closely to Dr. King and Bayard Rustin and their comrades.
“Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
“We are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us. [This new way is] an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. This oft-misunderstood, this oft-misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man.”
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
“When I speak of love, I’m not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I’m not speaking of a force which is just emotional bosh. I’m speaking of that force which all the great religions of the world have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life.”
“Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day.”
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
Happy New Year!