just FYI for myself, and anyone else who may have posted the
popular MLK Jr "quote" that has been all over the net in light of the
past few days...you might want to read this...
i came across the
quote and it seemed to sum up all of the mixed emotions that i was
having, so I did a little copy/paste...i like to post quotes, verses,
etc that have challenged, convicted and moved me...and this was
certainly one of those...here it is, for those of you wondering:
"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice
in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate
multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of
stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate
cannot drive out hate: only love can do that" ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
soooo...i actually have a book of his
speeches and writings, that I turn to often...but, in this case, I must
admit, I didn't do my fact-checking, being that I recognized the
quote(PART of the quote...MY BAD)
after scouring my book this morning, and doing some web searching, i found
this article, which helps to explain what happened.
so,
while the first part of this "quote" is a good sentiment(and obviously
resounded with people, hence the "like wildfire" spreading across the
net)...it seems as though the thought was posted by someone with the Dr
King quote below it and then...through the telephone game that is social
media and the not-so-exact science of cutting and pasting...the rest is
misquoting history...
and this is only a theory, but I know that two
of the scriptures that I kept coming back to in the last few days was
Ezekiel 33:11, and it sounds very similar to what this girl
posted...possible where she was coming from on it:
"Say to them, ‘As
surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the
death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and
live"
Another verse that came to my mind was: "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your
heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath
away from them. Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the
wicked, for the evildoer has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked
will be snuffed out."
~Proverbs 24:17-20
I think the reason that verses like these struck a chord within me was in the way I felt immediately
humbled, as if i was realizing all over again what a precious and
undeserved gift my salvation is, and how easily that could have been my
eternity
going back to the MLK book...I find the actual quote still appropriate and convicting
here
it is in it's entirety: "Are we seeking power for power’s sake? Or are
we seeking to make the world and our nation better places to live. If we
seek the latter, violence can never provide the answer. The ultimate
weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the
very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it
multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot
murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder
the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely
increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies
violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot
drive out hate: only love do that."
i do not like to misquote
anyone...especially someone like Dr King, who I have so much respect for
and whose words I would never want to twist...I never like it when
people just spout things off with nothing to back them up...don't want
to be that guy :) so, my bad(along with the thousands of others across
the web)so, just wanted to get that info out there...although I'm sure
you've already read about it...on the internet!
more than
anything, i am so in awe of the men and women who have made, and
continue to make, sacrifices every day for us all...great men, like my
daddy and my brother-in-law...
i know that, as long as we are on this
earth, there will be evil...i know that we serve a God who is both just
and merciful..and, in the words of john lennon,'you may say I'm a
dreamer'...but, I pray that each day, we are a step closer to peace and a
realization of the radical love we're called to...praise God that, no
matter what, He is always on His throne and Lord come quickly
