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Health & Fitness

Martin Luther King and the Depth of Our Convictions

Like many Americans, I have great respect for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and feel privileged to add this blog to the many others being published this week.

     Like many Americans, I have great respect for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and feel privileged to add this blog to the many others being published this week.  The depth of Dr. King’s conviction that all men should be treated equally was matched by his dedication to his mission.  He was truly a great man.  His words, “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people” still haunt the conscience of those who keep silent in the face of injustice and suffering.  He was right when he wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

     Today, King’s words, perhaps more than his actions, still speak to another generation and generations to come.  They speak to people all over the world who are yearning for freedom.  His speeches still reach the heart that yearns to better mankind.  He once said, “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life.  Longevity has its place.  But I’m not concerned about that now.  I just want to do God’s will.  And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain.  And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land….So I’m happy tonight.  I’m not worried about anything.  I’m not fearing any man.”  He said those words the day before his assassination.

     In the forty-three years since his death, many people have been inspired by his words and life.  I know I have.  I am always inspired by the lives of individuals who put the good of mankind above their own self-interest.  We have been blessed in this country to have the examples of Washington, Lincoln, Wilson, King and many others. 

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     Once such individual was Mary Baker Eddy.  After spending much of her life as an invalid and searching for health in allopathic and homeopathic medicine, she had a near-fatal accident.  When conscious, she asked for her Bible, and in moments of inspiration, she felt God’s overwhelming love and was healed.  She could have just continued living her life in New England social circles, but instead spent her next years searching the Bible and healing others.  This cost her family and friends who could not understand her new-found convictions.  The following years of her life were spent praying for others, writing to help others find health, teaching spiritual healing, and establishing a church – the Church of Christ, Scientist. 

     Like King, and others, she felt called by God to benefit mankind, and she did.  Many were healed through her prayer and thousands of others have found health through her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.  I am one of those.  I have found that the understanding of God given in that book has restored my health many times.  It has so transformed my life, that my career today is healing others and sharing Christian Science.

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     Eddy’s words have inspired me to press on in the face of resistance and ridicule.  Since boyhood, these words of hers have enlightened my path in helping others through prayer, “The hour is come….What will you do about it? Will you doff your lavender-kid zeal, and become real and consecrated warriors?...Answer at once and practically, and answer aright!”  These words could be spoken to anyone desiring to help the world - to alleviate disease and suffering. 

     In his “Strength to Love” speech, Dr. King stated, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.  The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.” Taking the advice of a great man, we should do no less.  Thank you, Dr. King.

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