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FROM BIRMINGHAM TO TUCSON

Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday

From Birmingham to Tucson

Northwest  UU Congregation

Rev. Morris W. Hudgins

January 16, 2011


 I would be remiss today, on the day when we are celebrating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., if I did not address the events that occurred last week in Tucson, Arizona.  For the children who have not seen these events on television, I want to say that sometimes individuals who are sick do bad things.  A young man who is mentally ill did bad things last week.  As a result of this, six people died, and one of our congresswomen was badly hurt.  A little girl, Christina, died.
  If Martin were alive today he would speak to these events.  I must admit today that I was inspired by the words of our President last Wednesday spoken at the Memorial for those who died.  Our President began his speech quoting the words of Unitarian minister Theodore Parker, adapted by President Lincoln, saying that the people who gathered in front of the Safeway as Gabby Giffords called it, “Congress on the Corner” were “an updated version of government of and by and for the people.”
As I reflect on these events, I think back to 1963 when Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote a letter from the Birmingham jail.  He had been arrested for taking part in a peaceful march in Birmingham.  While in jail he wrote a ten page letter, the letter was specifically addressed to white moderates and liberals, like most of us.  He expressed his disappointment at our inability to act for justice.  In the end, he wrote:
Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant starts of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.
We all know that prejudice still exists and the deep fog of misunderstanding has not been lifted.  The perpetrator, and I cannot event say his name, reminds us of this fact.  The question we must all ask is:  What can we do?  This was the message of President Obama in Tucson this week.
First, as President Obama acknowledged, we must admit there is evil in the world.  The face of the accused is the picture of evil—a man with no remorse.  Yes, unspeakable acts of evil done with a grin.   Evil does exist and it is our duty to acknowledge it and name it
Second, it is our duty to have a discourse about what causes such things to happen.  Evil people like Hitler and the Klan succeed, as Martin reminded us in his letter, because good people do not speak out.  We must ask again, “How can people with known mental illness buy guns so easily?  How can rapid fire weapons be so readily available?  Is there not something we can do when someone is clearly mentally unstable?”
Third, I agree with our President that we must not encourage the polarization of our nation because we so readily blame this incident on those with whom we disagree.   Yes, our politicians and talk show hosts have a right to say dumb things.  And they do it everyday.    If the life of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords means anything, it means that people have a right to assemble and to speak their opinions. 
Remember how the politicians and the police tried to prevent Martin from speaking his mind and pulling people together, black and white, to express their views.  I agree with President Obama when he said,
. . . At a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do – it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. . . .Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let’s use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together. . . .
The words of the President reflect another former President of our nation.  As President Lincoln said during a trying period of our nation,  “United we stand, divided we fall.”  Reminding us of Lincoln, President Obama wrote:  “. . .I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.”  Mr. Obama also gave us words of hope.  He said,
The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better . . . .We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another, that’s entirely up to us. 
Fourth, and finally, my message this morning, as planned, is that love and compassion are the goal of religion.  This is the message that Martin would want us to speak today.  As the President said, “We may ask ourselves if we’ve shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives.” 
It is fitting that the final example given by our President was the wisdom seen through the eyes of a child—Christina Taylor Green.  He said, “Christina Taylor Green was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called “Faces of Hope.”  On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child’s life.  “I hope you help those in need,” read on. “I hope you know all the words to the National Anthem and sign it with your hand over your heart.  “I hope you jump in rain puddles.”  These final words of our President reflect his Unitarian Universalist training by his grandmother.  He said:
If there are rain puddles in Heaven, Christina is jumping in them today.  And here on this Earth –here on this Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and we commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.  
So may it be.  Amen.


 

 

 
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