Martin Luther King Jr.
It is more important than ever that we listen to, and reflect on, words like those above. All too often, it seems like the world steadily marches in the other direction, and the answers to how to stop that march are elusive.
Too many of us are backed into all sorts of corners. Ideology, politics, identity, class, religion, and every other divisive line drawn around us.
Social media and our news channels have made the problem infinitely worse, by showing us everything that aligns with our opinions, and hiding every other perspective.
This is not a one side versus the other side problem, this is happening to every one of us, all the time. To add to this, it seems what’s most rewarded online are the most polarizing or shocking voices.
The ones that get clicks and views, the ones that get comments and likes, regardless of the value or truth of their content. If it’s provocative, it’s elevated. The result, is that we all have ever increasing exposure to extreme views.
Technology roars onward, global politics rage, and our communities hold together the best we can in the middle of what, all too often, feels like a category five hurricane.
And, of course, technology is not the only reason for our divisions. Today, we are living more disconnected lives in every way. It’s all about work and money, busy schedules, ego-driven thinking (what is this doing for me?), all accompanied by a precipitous decline in church attendance and general spiritual practice.
It would take a lot more room in a newsletter to flesh out all of what has led us here, and that isn’t the point anyway. It’s a thousand things, conspiring a thousand different ways, and we don’t have any control over most of it.
However, it doesn’t take a thousand things to bring people back to unity, it only really takes one. That’s the magic and the power that we all have inside of us. We are filled with infinite and eternal love, and if we want to share it and make our lives about that, we can.
Politicians need groups of people to hate other groups of people, it’s how they accumulate power. Social media companies need users to feel so angry and emotional that they become addicted and consumed by it, it’s how they accumulate money.
But we don’t have to go along.
One of the great quotes from Marcus Aurelius reads like this:
It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing, and not to be disturbed in our soul; for things themselves have no natural power to form our judgments.
Sometimes it’s paraphrased as:
Remember, you don’t have to have an opinion about everything.
We actually can just decide to live free of these persuasions, and aim to view ourselves as true brothers and sisters in this world. All together and all flawed. All loved, and all loving.
It’s quite a hard thing to do. When we see someone saying something we disagree with, we feel the need to correct them. Our ego is offended, and it needs to defend itself. This is natural, but it should not control our lives.
Of course, there is a difference between having an opinion about every little thing that crosses our feed, and engaging with the big issues of our time.
Martin Luther King Jr. would have a lot to say here, and he would make clear that speaking out against injustice is a form of love. He would then remind us that nonviolence is the only way, and that hatred has absolutely no place in our world.
Even when we are pushing back against something we view as unjust. Especially then.
Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.
For each injustice is born of the lowest persuasions of human nature. Hatred, selfishness, greed, jealousy, and so on. It stands to reason, then, that combating them takes a different approach than mimicking them.
That’s the missing piece today, and this holiday is a perfect day to reflect on this divine truth. No matter the violation, no matter the injury, no matter the offense, the answer is love.
And it’s here that we’ve found the major difference in today’s world. We have lost the central truth of love in our society.
We’ve lost its binding power, it’s cohesive nature, it’s calming influence, and it’s powerful urging to help and to serve others. We’ve lost the one thing that centers us as individuals and as a society.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
These are the qualities of the love that we’ve lost in far too much of our modern lives. In its place, are all the things we see and feel in today’s world that can make us feel lost and hopeless.
So, where do we go from here?
As always, the answer starts with examining our own hearts. By making a conscious and intentional effort to root out anything we find that is based in hatred for any person or any group. We must avoid anything we’re feeding our minds that causes these black stains on our heart, and replace it with things that lead to love.
We must make time in our busy days to study and learn these lessons, and spend time with people who are doing the same.
We can slowly transform ourselves into stronger friends, more loving families, more generous communities, and we can live in real unity with other people, regardless of their beliefs.
Nobody has ever convinced another person to think the way they do by yelling about their opinions.
Real influence comes through witnessing living examples.
We must become those living examples. We can become people who lead with love, not hate. Generosity, not selfishness. Community, not tribalism. Patience and calm rather than anger and anxiety. Compassion, not spite or jealousy. Just compassion.
If we could commit to this, even if only a few of us can, the light in our world will shine brighter. It starts with all of us doing our small part, and being the best version of ourselves during our short time here.
It’s a miracle to be alive, let’s work on turning the fruit of our lives into something just as miraculous.