Honoring Dr. King's Message

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who challenged us all to be better, to think better. His ideas were so ahead of his time that he lost his life over them, at the hand of others who acted in fear of the changes that his thoughts might bring about. Dr. King helped us progress by shining light to drive out darkness.

Each of us has come to this world as light, with the purpose of illuminating the darkness. This is why humans progress - because we know that is our purpose. Those individuals like Dr. King, who are willing to be that light against the odds, help us to be better people, help us to love one another in actions rather than just in words. It is interesting to me that those who opposed Dr. King did so very much in the name of God and Christianity, quoting Biblical scripture to justify their actions. In hindsight, most of us can see that was in error, yet so many well meaning people do the same thing today in justifying their hatred.

Recently, I saw a declaration that "the Bible is not PC" (meaning Politically Correct). I pondered that statement, knowing that the bearer of the message was probably meaning to convey that since the Bible did not use "PC" terms, then we should never consider them. It was intended to be a clever "buzz statement" that I'm certain has been repeated over and over by many who think that it demonstrates their dedication to the Bible and to God.

Then I thought about the Bible's politics...the ideas of the times were that women were essentially worthless, wealthy men held all the rights and power, it was acceptable to own human beings in slavery, or to sell your daughter into slavery...the poor and downtrodden were expected to remain that way. Perhaps the Bible SHOULD HAVE BEEN more politically correct, but since the powerful had the ability to filter and control its message, why would they want to change their established ways? Perhaps Jesus's messages were an attempt to balance those horrid inequities through softer words of love and compassion...just as good (unextreme) political correctness seeks to do. And while I would agree that sometimes PC gets a little silly or extremist, and sometimes becomes more about winning political favor, the premise behind it might be illuminating. Personally, I don't want to say things that are hurtful or offensive to others, even if I didn't mean them that way.

Judgment is a dark emotion. When we look at others as less than us, or decide that only our way is right, we are spreading darkness, not light. We are not illuminating their goodness or driving away the darkness, rather we are contributing to it. When we become callous in our ways and resist change, we are neither enlightened nor enlightening. Just as it only takes a small amount of light to illuminate a dark room so that we can see our way, it only takes a small amount of light - a few committed people - to illuminate the world. When we do this collectively, there will be no darkness. Just as God declared, "Let there be light," we can declare, "Let ME be light," and choose to spread unconditional love.

On this day of remembering Dr. King's contributions, decide how you can spread light. Are you willing to challenge old accepted ways of thinking in order to make way for new illuminations - as not only King did, but as Jesus did? Can you risk disdain from others in order to seek or deliver a new message, encouraging love and freedom rather than fear and control?

See others with love rather than judgment, notice good qualities rather than bad, give up your need to be RIGHT in exchange for a need to be LIGHT, and you will contribute to driving out darkness. Be the light amongst the darkness, the love amongst the hate, the hope amongst the despair, the calm amongst the turmoil. It is your purpose and where you will find peace and joy.

Giving Up the Need To Be Right

We all love to be right. The recent trends in our culture have exacerbated that tendency, from excess litigation, to the common phrase of "it's just business", we are fraught with excuses that give us the green light to do whatever it takes to achieve that "win". We choose our "side" first, then decide how to back it up to make us feel right.

In the political arena, we see it constantly. Those who are "against" a candidate or leader send blazing emails to everyone they know to bring him/her down, rarely taking the time to check the validity of what they are sending, simply interested in being right. This comes from BOTH sides, because both sides are so focused on winning the "wrong" or "right" argument that they take little time think about finding truth or compromise, little time to get to the heart of how we can solve problems, engrossed instead on how our side can win the next election.

This tendency is not confined to the political arena...it is in most everything we do. Is is paramount in our religious and spiritual conversations. These, to me, are the most important ones, because if we can grow spiritually...truly growing, rather than just focusing on winning...our other problems, both individual and collective, will begin to disappear. It is our constant need to fight to be right that fuels our problems. There is a saying that "what we resist, persists", when we go against something, it is given power. This is what JUDGMENT is all about. When we judge something, we are actually contributing to it. When we take a fighting stance against it, we are in a negative energy; when we accept others views with respect - even if we disagree - our energy is positive and can usher is a light that will create miracles.

But where do we begin? Our world is so caught up in being right that it sometimes seems that it would be impossible to create any lasting effect. However, numerous studies on energy (done in scientific fashion) have indicated that having a mere 3% of positive thought can have enough impact to tip us in the other direction (that tells us a little about how our positive vs. negative thoughts stack up right now!).

Mother Teresa said, "I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there." This is an example of choosing positive thought over negative thought. When we are against something, we are pointing out that someone else is wrong...we are caught up in our need to be right. When we shift our thoughts to a positive one, such as "pro-peace" it changes the entire perspective, minimizing the resistance. A single positive thought is exponentially stronger than a single negative thought, which is why it would only take a small percentage of truly positive thinkers to change the world.

YOU can be part of that 3% by simply changing your thoughts from negative to positive. Expect the best rather than the worst, see the good in others rather than the bad, spend your time building on positive things rather than tearing down what you oppose. You will notice a change around you...you will begin to attract more positive people...those who are excessively negative may not be able to handle the shift, and may even attack or become hostile to try to get you back into the negative camp, but will simply drift away if you persist in a positive light. I say this from my own experiences, where I felt the need to be right, the desire for validation, but instead shifted into detachment from that necessity. It brought peace to me and eliminated the conflict. It lifted me up and opened the way for greater things within me.

At this time of year when we think of peace, love, and giving...choose to give the gift of positive thought...give up the need to be right, show respect without personal attack when you debate an issue, or simply agree to disagree when it seems that differences cannot be resolved. Detach your ego from the discussion. We often say that we want peace in the world, yet the only way to achieve that is to have peace within ourselves...we cannot encourage peace if we do not have it within us. Conflicted hearts bring on conflicted ways, but contented hearts bring on joy and harmony. Find peace and serenity in yourself and your surroundings, and you will help change the world.