Radiant fear

Skye Jethani in his recent teaching at Mars Hill Bible Church credited one of the most important moments of wholeness in race realtions in our country to a sleepless night of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Apparently on January 27, 1956, Dr. King was awake at 2:00 in the morning paralyzed by fear. Someone unhappy with his work on the Montgomery bus boycott had called to let him know that if he didn't back off, his house would be bombed and he and his family killed.

According to Jethani's telling of the story, Dr. King sat paralyzed by fear. He was so threatened by the force against him and his wife and 2 month old daughter, that the fear had turned in on his very core and caused what Thomas Aquinas called a "contraction of the soul."

But somehow without any real reason, Dr. King became uniquely aware of the presence of God and he then embarked on his role in the movement to end discrimination on the basis of race in this country.

He knew in a way that he had never before that he could face anything.

It was about 4 days later when Dr. King, who was attending a rally, received word that his house had indeed been bombed.

After rushing home to find his house on fire, but his family safe, he delivered what some say was the true turning point in the movement.

From the porch of his burning house to the angry mob that had formed to seek vengeance against the bombers, Dr. King said:

"Let your enemies know you love them. What we are doing is right and God is with us. Go home with this glowing faith, with this radiant assurance. With love in our hearts with faith, and with God in front."

The mob dropped their bats and rifles to their sides and went home.

A white policeman who had been dispatched to the scene said:

"We would have been dead were it not for that black preacher."

You are invited this MLK day to consider taking on the pain the hatred and the fear of others and when you soul is locked down by fear, know that God is with you and then do or say or believe something that is counter to all the evidence at hand and change the world.