Tag Archives: Martin Luther King

To Build the Beloved Community

17 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Poems, Prayers, Reflections

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mlkpeacehands“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. You may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. You may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate, nor establish love. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Here is a prayer poem that I wrote for the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a few years ago for an interfaith peace and justice meeting:

Pray to whomever you kneel in awe before.
Pray to Being, to Sacred Mystery, to the Breath of Life.
Pray to Divine Love, to Ultimate Meaning, to the Author of Peace.
Pray so as to open your humanity to the humanity in others.
Pray through tears dripping with the world’s suffering.
Pray without forgetting
that we are bound together
on a path that touches all of our lives,
all of our worlds,
whether we live in Haiti or Iraq or China
or Afghanistan or Yemen or Palestine
or on the central coast of California.
On this day we thank you, Holy One, for Martin Luther King Jr.
We thank you for all who have the vision and the courage
to build the beloved community
where everyone is valued,
power is shared,
privilege is set aside,
and all creation knows your healing Presence and Peace.
In your many names we pray. Amen.

Words (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Blessed are the Peacemakers

21 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Peace with justice, Prayers

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Today is the International Day of Peace.

Here are a few quotations to inspire us to continue to walk the path of peace through how we choose to live. Especially in these tumultuous times of global unrest the world needs more people who will risk being peacemakers.

“The earth is too small a star and we too brief a visitor upon it for anything to matter more than the struggle for peace.” ~ Colman McCarthy

“Returning violence for violence only multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

“If we want to reap the harvest of peace and justice in the future, we will have to sow the seeds of nonviolence, here and now, in the present.” ~ Mairead Corrigan Maguire

“We know that peace is only possible when it is the fruit of justice. True peace is the result of the profound transformation affected by nonviolence which is, indeed, the power of love.” ~ Perez Esquivel

“Anyone can love peace, but Jesus doesn’t say, ‘Blessed are the peace-lovers.’ He says ‘peacemakers.’ He is referring to a life vocation, not a hobby on the sidelines of life.” ~ Jim Wallis

“While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi

“Be peace, don’t just talk about it.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

A PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ Mark Lloyd Richardson
We struggle for peace, God, beginning with our own hearts.
We do not always see the light within ourselves or others.
We do not always speak with words of understanding.
We do not always sow the seeds of nonviolence in the present.
Make us into light-bearers, justice-seekers, peace-makers!
Help us to believe again in our vocation as pilgrims of peace!
Transform the world through the tenacious power of love!