Happenings 1.20.2021 | Inspired to Love

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." -Martin Luther King Jr. Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. day. A day that we remember and honor a man who spoke love into such hateful times. A man who sternly stood for love and what was right, even when it was hard. In college we read an autobiography of MLK. This book was honestly life changing for me and inspired me greatly. I want to be transparent with you, as I was reading about one of the many times that MLK and a group he was working with were being treated very poorly and unjustly, I found myself being filled with anger. I was angry for the way they were treated and for the way that there are still many people that are treated so poorly today. Honestly, I wanted the next paragraphs to explain how he told the group to fight back and how he led the charge. But, the story continued with him asking the group to stay firm yet peaceful and he led by example. This story has had an impact on me that will last a lifetime. MLK showed a way to stand up for others and fight for what was right. He didn’t fight with an “eye for an eye” mentality, but rather fought in a way that had even a bigger impact. In fact, to paraphrase what he said in this same book, if we follow "eye for an eye" we will all just be blind. There is something else that really impacted me about him and his life. He did not back down from standing up for what right, even when people caused violence or continued to speak out against the efforts. The reality is, this was not very long ago, and the work continues. We can live out the call from Jesus to love our neighbor through living out the words of MLK and working to not make this just a day of sharing quotes, but a shift towards a lifestyle that cares for and loves others. So how do we stand up for what is right? How do we fight for the rights of our brothers and sisters? If we fight with anger and hate, we only fill the world with more hate and darkness. We also can’t turn our backs on the hate. We need to have the tough conversations. We need to stand up against the hatefulness in the world and work to educate ourselves and others. We can do all of this in love. May we live in a way that shows love to all people. May we be inspired to show and live out the love of Christ for all. For love speaks louder than hate. In Christ, Jay Kiel