Without That Good Man
"On Rabbi Kook Street I walk without this good man--"
The poet Yehuda Amichai captured in these words the way a great person like Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook is missed especially when his name lives on long after death robbed the world of the passion, wisdom, and depth that was unique to him.
I feel like this on the day celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man whose name graces streets and monuments, whose words are easily quoted and dreams are taken as given, but who is even more missed both for his unparalleled greatness and his unrelenting goodness.
In his lifetime, Dr. King, although a hero and champion to many, was labeled everything from a self-serving rabble rouser to a menace to the American way of life. His movement and allies were accused of dividing the nation and he was personally condemned as a Communist infiltrator and a moral degenerate.
Few speak so badly of Dr. King or his vision today. The explicit and unvarnished belief that people should be treated differently because of the color of their skin is vociferously disavowed by the vast majority. Most agree that social and civil equality should be a promise that America strives to keep without agreeing as to what that means today.
Yet, there are a much larger number who will, to paraphrase Amichai, march without this great man. Who will see him as a person who valued unity at the cost of injustice, pious words over cries of the heart, or symbolic actions that do nothing to feed, clothe or break the yoke of imprisonment.
We might think of Dr. King as a leader who accomplished something and left us words to inspire us to keep going in the same direction as opposed to a prophet who goaded himself and others to never be complacent until there is justice for all. The person who said "One of life's most persistent questions is what are you doing for others?"
We will remember the dreamer who stood in Washington and imagined a beloved community, but we must also heed the preacher who taught
What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.
These words come from his book entitled Where Do We Go From Here?"
This question is also one of life's most persistent and when so much in our society seems to be at a crossroads, we must answer that question without this good man.
May we rise to the occasion drawing both the wisdom and the inspiration from Dr. King that all things are still possible as long as we recognize and commit to the work that lies ahead