January 16, 2011:

Ponderings of a Pilgrim PASTOR

“Pilgrimage to Nonviolence”

“The experience in Montgomery (leading the bus boycott) did more to clarify my thinking in regard to the question of nonviolence than all the books that I had read. As the days unfolded, I became more and more convinced of the power of nonviolence. Nonviolence became more than a method to which I gave intellectual assent; it became a commitment to a way of life. Many issues I had not cleared up intellectually concerning nonviolence were now resolved within the sphere of practical action . . .

I would not wish to give the impression that nonviolence will accomplish miracles overnight. Men are not easily moved from their mental ruts or purged of their prejudiced and irrational feelings. When the underprivileged demand freedom, the privileged at first react with bitterness and resistance. Even when the demands are couched in nonviolent terms, the initial response is substantially the same. I am sure that many of our white brothers in Montgomery and throughout the South are still bitter toward the Negro leaders, even though these leaders have sought to follow a way of love and nonviolence. But the nonviolent approach does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect. It calls up resources of strength and courage they did not know they had. Finally, it so stirs the conscience of the opponent that reconciliation becomes a reality.”

From “Strength to Love” by Martin Luther King, Jr., written in 1963.

Love,
Pastor Dave