Worship Material
From the writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
All citations are from “The
Words of Martin Luther King, Jr.”  ,
edited by Coretta Scott King. New York: Newmarket Press, 1978.
Compassion and nonviolence help us to see the enemy’s point
of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves.
For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our
own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit
from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition. (p.
78)
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
The principle of nonviolent resistance seeks to reconcile the truths
of two opposites—acquiescence and violence—while avoiding
the extremes and immoralities of both. The nonviolent resister agrees
with the person who acquiesces that one should not be physically
aggressive toward his opponent; but he balances the equation by
agreeing with the person of violence that evil must be resisted.
He avoids the nonresistance of the former and the violence of the
latter. With nonviolent resistance, no individual or group need
submit to any wrong, nor need anyone resort to violence in order
to right a wrong. (p. 79)
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of
the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of
those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls
up resources of strength and courage that they did not know they
had. Finally it reaches the opponent and so stirs his conscience
that reconciliation becomes a reality. (p. 79)
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
There is a powerful motivation when a suppressed people enlist
in an army that marches under the banner of nonviolence. A nonviolent
army has a magnificent universal quality. To join an army that trains
its adherents in the methods of violence, you must be of a certain
age. But in Birmingham, some of the most valued foot soldiers were
youngsters ranging from elementary pupils to teenage high school
and college students. (p. 77)
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
I do not minimize the complexity of the problems that need to be
faced in achieving disarmament and peace. But I am convinced that
we shall not have the will, the courage, and the insight to deal
with such matters unless in this field we are prepared to undergo
a mental and spiritual reevaluation, a change of focus which will
enable us to see that the things that seem most real and powerful
are indeed now unreal and have come under the sentence of death.
It is not enough to say ‘We must not wage war.’ It
is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate
not merely on the eradication of war but on the affirmation of peace.
So we must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic
melody that is far superior to the discords of war. Somehow we must
transform the dynamics of the world power struggle for a nuclear
arms race, which no one can win, to a creative contest to harness
man’s genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity
a reality for all the nations of the world. In short, we must shift
the arms race into a ‘peace race.’ If we have the will
and determination to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock
hitherto tightly sealed doors of hope and bring new light into the
dark chambers of pessimism. (p. 85)
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
If we assume that life is worth living and that [humanity] has
a right to survival, then we must find an alternative to war. In
a day when vehicles hurtle through outer space and guided ballistic
missiles carve highways of death through the stratosphere, no nation
can claim victory in war. (p. 86)
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and
say of war: ‘This way of settling differences is not jut.’
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. (p. 87)
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
It is time for all people of conscience to call upon American to
return to her true home of brotherhood and peaceful pursuits. We
cannot remain silent as our nation engages in one of history’s
most cruel and senseless wars. During these days of human travail
we must encourage creative dissenters. We need them because the
thunder of their fearless voices will be the only sound stronger
than the blasts of bombs and the clamor of war hysteria.
Those of us who love peace must organize as effectively as the
war hawks. As they spread the propaganda of war, we must spread
the propaganda of peace. We must combine the fervor of the civil
rights movement with the peace movement. We must demonstrate, teach,
and preach, until the very foundations of our nation are shaken.
We must work unceasingly to lift this nation that we love to a higher
destiny, to a new plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression
of humaneness.
I have tried to be honest. To be honest is to confront the truth.
However unpleasant and inconvenient the truth may be, I believe
we must expose the face of it if we are to achieve a better quality
of American life. (p. 89)
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted
with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life
and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination
is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare,
naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The ‘tide in
the affairs of men’ does not remain at the flood; it ebbs.
We may cry out desperately from time to time to pause in her passage,
but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached
bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written
the pathetic words: ‘Too late.’ There is an invisible
book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect.
‘The moving finger writes and having writ moves on. …’
We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent
coannihilation. This may well be [humanity’s] last chance
to choose between chaos and community. (p. 90)
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
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