Thursday, August 17, 2006

Wary of the Sin of Waiting

Martin Luther King, Jr. once wrote from a Mississippi jail cell to his clergy colleagues, explaining why he would not, why he could not, agree to their pleas that he delay acting upon his convictions. In his letter which was later published under the title, ‘Why we Can’t Wait,’ King shows that he understands the reasons that his colleagues have chosen to still their activism, to silence their own voices, presumably in hopes of achieving a social stability that mollify the majority on both sides of the segregation and equal rights controversy, and would substitute for true peace. He then explains why this simply won’t do for himself in light of his calling to represent Christ to both his friend and his enemy, alike.