Photo:
Minnesota Historical
Society
111
The hero who found beauty in us
Image story
A sage sitting by the city gate watched
travelers entering and leaving. They often stopped to ask him
about the people in the city. He asked them what they had found
so far. Some said, “Oh I am going away from my last home because
the people were unkind, unfriendly, and angry.” Others said,
“I'm coming from a happy place. It was good to be there, and
I was sad to leave.” To both he said, “You describe the people
here.” Of course, he meant that they would find the same people
that they had been accustomed to finding.
We create our own worlds by finding what
we are seeking. The worlds differ because we seek different
things. Those who understand beauty recognize it around them,
creating more beauty. Wherever they are, they are surrounded by
beauty.
Article 19 reminds us that Dr. King engaged us in
creating the promised land from within. Like finds
like.
Perspective
That article found fault with students
who saw thorns, not roses. Finding beauty was a burden of
citizenship, a responsibility to turn from the bad and work
on the good. Applied to today’s opening story, that perspective
makes the new arrivals responsible for finding or creating good
neighbors.
On the other hand, we can replace
“burden” with “opportunity.” A fresh start in a new neighborhood
is an opportunity for positive change. As the sage dispensing
advice, I would not consign the faultfinders to repeating their
past disappointments. Instead, I would plant in them the
expectation of finding better. In
article 40, students measure up to teacher expectations. New
arrivals expecting friends will find them. What was a “burden” of
making new friends becomes the “opportunity” to enjoy new
friends.
The ingredients are there. The future
develops out of what we make of them. Observing the beauty
around us is tantamount to creating it around us.
Applied to the present
After I chose to write about finding
beauty, I became conscious of the national holiday honoring Dr.
King. Immediately he was the example of my positive outlook. I
enjoy using his phrase “promised land.” It expresses the joy I
wanted people to feel when they discover the good in a
neighborhood. The mountaintop is the vantage point that provides
that perspective.
I wish there were a comprehensive free
public archive of all his speeches and writings. Without that in
my footnotes, I give you my own words from the heart. You have
already heard the quotations. I will share the feelings they
raise.
Dr. King deliberately started in the
places people thought were least likely to respond. He said that
if we can make progress there, we have demonstrated what is
possible. He moved into a neighborhood and found, inspired,
discovered, caused – any good term you want to use – the
emergence of new life. He refused to lose hope; he set the pace
for our aspirations, always ahead of the present and moving into
a brighter future.
He walked the walk. Yes, literally, in
marches. They called public attention to the infusion of soul
force. The ignorant, fierce opposition never caused him to hate.
I remember hearing him say that he had no anger, that he had been
hit by so many bottles that he was immune to hatred. His joyful
voice was the outpouring of light emanating from his soul.
Having just written in
article 110 that “pacifism is anything but passive,” I
particularly appreciate this excerpt from
Peace Eduction:
King's "soul force" isn't
just non-violent and peaceful– it is also truthful, respectful
and kind, in both words and deeds. King believed that difficult
and divisive social issues regarding race, class and structural
injustice must by necessity be discussed in words of reason and
sympathy with opponents. Such "soul force" is not
passive or weak. It is active, dramatic, engaged and above all,
persistently non-violent.
It is fundamentally important that Dr.
King spoke to the promised land within our hearts. We enter it,
it enters us--always in togetherness.
I aspire to carrying the light a few
steps farther. I cannot do justice in this article to the scope
of his teachings. Let it suffice for me to write unceasingly in
the tradition of his peace and the dedication of his spirit. When
I hear him speak, my heart beats quicker and my eyes tear up.
Being For Others Blog copyright © 2021 Kent Busse
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