– Martin Luther King – A Christmas Sermon on peace – 1967-

With so much madness sweeping over the world this week, perhaps the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King hold just as much, if not more, meaning and relevance than they did 56 years ago.

Here is his legendary Sermon On Peace, given as part of the Massey Lecture Series from CBC Radio in Canada from 1967. The lectures have been repeated over and over; their message is as powerful as when they were first spoken.

If you aren’t familiar with them, I urge you to sit down and have a listen to this one for starts.

Here is that complete lecture, given as a sermon.

The time is right. The message is clear.

And even though I wrote that entry some four years ago, the sentiment is as powerful now as it was then. The world continues to spin, albeit crazily. Peace is random and tenuous. Empathy is not universal. Kindness is more often accidental. Hatred and prejudice have taken on dimensions not seen in modern history. And yet, we still survive, still prevail, still strive for humanity. How will it end? How will it resolve? We never knew in the past, we don’t know now and we have no way of seeing into the future. We only have faith and the fervent belief that everything works out; maybe not how we imagined it, but the way it is supposed to be. All we have is now and our inner strength to guide us – bring us to the place of peace, tolerance and understanding. Tall orders – impossible at times, unlikely at best – but it is all we have, and all we can go on. It is our journey.

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