Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Draws Many

A view of the Martin Luther King, Jr.,
sculpture near the Tidal Basin,
Washington, D.C.

On a quiet Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving Day, the most visited of the memorials that we came upon near the Tidal Basin in the nation’s Capital was the one recently dedicated to the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr., the peaceful, yet forceful advocate for civil rights in America.  For his approach, as has happened to others of his period, he was rewarded with assassination. 
 
Upon entering the Memorial’s site, you will pass between two towering blocks of stone, before you walk past another two of the same size.  From one of the four carved blocks of stone juts the full, imposing figure of a sculpted MLK standing resolutely, his gaze steadily focused ahead.
 
What you may not immediately observe until you have passed by the four stone carvings and then turn around is the granite wall which slopes behind the four stone monoliths, and extends from both sides of the Memorial’s entrance, to its left and to its right. 
 
It is reminiscent of the Vietnam War Memorial, and each of its panels has inscribed in it an aphorism from the writings of MLK.
 
There are many of them, but one of my favorites is the one carved into the first panel on the right side.  It reads simply, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”

 
MLK was a prophet, but people often don’t like prophets because they have this annoying tendency of pointing in the direction of the truth.  It reminds me of a passage from Psalm 80 that I came across this weekend, “I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased.” 


One of the many panels at the MLK Memorial

 
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it.  You speak the truth, you pay the price.
 
There is a strong correlation between the words ‘peace’ and ‘justice.’  Early this morning, while reading from a French-language book of reflections, I came across this opening phrase which supports MLK’s assertion:   “Sans justice, point de paix,” which translates to “Without justice, no peace.”
 
Another excerpt which I’ve taken the liberty to dynamically translate from the French text published in 1960 reads as follows:
 
 “Peace is not possible in any society unless every person takes it upon himself (herself) to set the example and to practice justice, regardless of one’s station in life – a person’s very own soul cannot enjoy peace without justice.” 
 
That should be enough to get the idea across:  We are all on the hook, despite, as the text continues, “Even though injustice surrounds us, we are heroically called upon to keep the peace.”  That’s a pretty tough admonition to follow, but it’s an age-old verity, one that’s a lot easier to write about than to practice.
 
Thanks for reading.  Take care of yourselves.