By the Rev. Dr. John G. Moore Sr.
Today, the world will commemorate the 92nd birthday of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was a man who had a dream of a unified nation, where all men would be treated with respect and dignity.
At the core of his dream was the concept called “the Beloved Community.” His Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the Earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.
Dr. King once said, “The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the Beloved Community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opponents into friends. It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age.”
As I have studied Dr. King’s principles of nonviolence and peaceful protest, I believe that to create this Beloved Community in the spirit of MLK, two sermons delivered by Dr. King give foundational principles. One was before the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, and the second was post-Montgomery bus boycott. These sermons were “Rediscovering Lost Values,” given in Detroit on Feb. 28, 1954, and “Loving Your Enemies,” given in Montgomery on Nov. 17, 1957.
In the first, Dr. King declared, “The great problem facing modern man is that the means by which we live have outdistanced the spiritual ends for which we live.” What he was saying in substance is that humankind has distanced itself from basic values of being just, honest, kind, true and loving. Dr. King stated, “The real problem is that, through our scientific genius, we’ve made of the world a neighborhood, but through our moral and spiritual genius, we’ve failed to make of it a brotherhood.” The first value that we need to rediscover is this — that all reality hinges on moral foundations. In other words, that this is a moral universe, and that there are moral laws of the universe, just as abiding as the physical laws. The second principle of this sermon that we’ve got to go back and rediscover is that all reality has spiritual control. In other words, we must truly recognize and rediscover the principle that there is a God behind the process.
The second sermon to consider by MLK regarding advancing the Beloved Community
is “Loving Your Enemies.” In this discourse, Dr. King first explained the practical “how” to love your enemies, and then, he followed that with the theoretical “why” we must love our enemies. The how includes: Take a look at oneself, looking for the good in all people and, finally, not seeking revenge when an opportunity presents itself.
The reasons why we must love our enemies include the fact that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe, hate distorts the personality of the hater, and, finally, love has within it a redemptive power.
And so I say to America and my fellow Delawareans that if we are ever to advance to that great utopian society called the Beloved Community, then we must rediscover lost values and learn to love our enemies. As you remember, act and celebrate this holiday, remember that it is a day on and not a day off. Together, let’s do all we can to bring peace and unity in the community and keep the legacy and the dream of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alive!
For more than a quarter-century, the Rev. Dr. John G. Moore Sr. has been a motivational speaker for schools, colleges, churches, correctional facilities and organizational gatherings locally, throughout the nation and in Germany, Japan, Russia and Korea.
