<div dir="ltr">May I suggest that we (i.e., someone who isn't me) invite Dr. David Torbett to provide a reflection? --dawn<br><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">David Torbett from David T, Religion prof at MC</strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:davidtorbett@substack.com">davidtorbett@substack.com</a>></span><br>Date: Fri, Jan 17, 2025 at 4:21 PM<br>Subject: MLK's "Cosmic Companion"<br>To:  <<a href="mailto:fuusm.office@gmail.com">fuusm.office@gmail.com</a>><br></div><br><br><div style="font-kerning:auto"><img src="https://eotrx.substackcdn.com/open?token=eyJtIjoiPDIwMjUwMTE3MjEyMTEzLjMuM2Q0Yzg1ZWQ3NGM5ZWEzN0BtZzIuc3Vic3RhY2suY29tPiIsInUiOjIxMzI5NDI0NiwiciI6ImZ1dXNtLm9mZmljZUBnbWFpbC5jb20iLCJkIjoibWcyLnN1YnN0YWNrLmNvbSIsInAiOjE1NDkyOTExMiwidCI6Im5ld3NsZXR0ZXIiLCJhIjoiZXZlcnlvbmUiLCJzIjoyMzk3MTM4LCJjIjoicG9zdCIsImYiOnRydWUsInBvc2l0aW9uIjoidG9wIiwiaWF0IjoxNzM3MTQ4ODc3LCJleHAiOjE3Mzk3NDA4NzcsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0wIiwic3ViIjoiZW8ifQ.t_tFHZcI-uDTtbPZjC_my33IZBjdVadkm0DAqZN_4xI" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" style="height:1px!important;width:1px!important;border-width:0!important;margin-top:0!important;margin-bottom:0!important;margin-right:0!important;margin-left:0!important;padding-top:0!important;padding-bottom:0!important;padding-right:0!important;padding-left:0!important"><div style="display:none;font-size:1px;color:#333333;line-height:1px;max-height:0px;max-width:0px;opacity:0;overflow:hidden">"I am convinced that the universe is under the control of a loving purpose..."</div><div style="display:none;font-size:1px;color:#333333;line-height:1px;max-height:0px;max-width:0px;opacity:0;overflow:hidden">͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­</div><table role="presentation" width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td></td><td width="550"></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td width="550" align="left"><div style="font-size:16px;line-height:26px;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin:0 auto"><table role="presentation" width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td align="right" style="height:20px"><table role="presentation" width="auto" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align:middle"><span style="font-family:SF Pro Text,-apple-system,system-ui,BlinkMacSystemFont,Inter,Segoe UI,Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,Apple Color Emoji,Segoe UI Emoji,Segoe UI Symbol;font-size:13px;color:unset;list-style:none;text-decoration:unset;margin:0"><div style="list-style:none;color:unset;text-align:right;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;text-decoration:unset;margin:0"><span style="list-style:none;color:unset;text-decoration:unset;margin:0">Forwarded this email? <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9kYXZpZHRvcmJldHQuc3Vic3RhY2suY29tL3N1YnNjcmliZT91dG1fc291cmNlPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1lbWFpbC1zdWJzY3JpYmUmcj0zaXptdzYmbmV4dD1odHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRmRhdmlkdG9yYmV0dC5zdWJzdGFjay5jb20lMkZwJTJGbWxrcy1jb3NtaWMtY29tcGFuaW9uIiwicCI6MTU0OTI5MTEyLCJzIjoyMzk3MTM4LCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1IjoyMTMyOTQyNDYsImlhdCI6MTczNzE0ODg3NywiZXhwIjoxNzM5NzQwODc3LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.0RpOEQhWBw1HkyTjrQ2QmfoOIrE3AmmNWZMp9NP7rBU?" style="list-style:none;color:unset;text-decoration:unset;margin:0;text-decoration-line:underline" target="_blank">Subscribe here</a> for more</span></div></span></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-size:16px;line-height:26px"><div style="font-size:16px;line-height:26px;margin-top:16px"><div dir="auto" style="text-align:initial;font-size:16px;line-height:26px;width:100%;word-break:break-word;margin-bottom:16px"><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0">What I have been privileged to learn as a religion and history professor at a liberal arts college in a small town in Appalachian Ohio</p></div><hr style="padding:0;height:1px;background:#e6e6e6;border:none;margin:16px 0 0"></div></div><div dir="auto" style="padding:32px 0 0 0;font-size:16px;line-height:26px"><div style="font-size:16px;line-height:26px"><h1 style="color:rgb(54,55,55);font-family:'SF Pro Display',-apple-system-headline,system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';font-weight:bold;margin:0;line-height:36px;font-size:32px"><a href="https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=2397138&post_id=154929112&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3izmw6&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyMTMyOTQyNDYsInBvc3RfaWQiOjE1NDkyOTExMiwiaWF0IjoxNzM3MTQ4ODc3LCJleHAiOjE3Mzk3NDA4NzcsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yMzk3MTM4Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.l_VRK9BIzQ1TRgg_WTpWEY3HjSH61rje9vL_dtLgE0A" style="color:rgb(54,55,55);text-decoration:none" target="_blank">MLK's "Cosmic Companion"</a></h1><h3 style="font-family:'SF Pro Display',-apple-system-headline,system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';font-weight:normal;margin:4px 0 0;color:#777777;line-height:24px;font-size:18px;margin-top:12px">"I am convinced that the universe is under the control of a loving purpose..."</h3><table role="presentation" width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:1em 0;height:20px"><tbody><tr><td><table role="presentation" width="auto" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td><table role="presentation" width="auto" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align:middle"><div style="list-style:none;font-size:11px;line-height:20px;text-decoration:unset;color:rgb(54,55,55);margin:0;font-family:'SF Compact',-apple-system,system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';font-weight:500;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.2px"><a style="list-style:none;color:rgb(54,55,55);margin:0;font-size:11px;line-height:20px;font-family:'SF Compact',-apple-system,system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';font-weight:500;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.2px;text-decoration:none" href="https://substack.com/@dtreligionprof" target="_blank">David Torbett</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td><table role="presentation" width="auto" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align:middle"><div style="list-style:none;font-size:11px;line-height:20px;text-decoration:unset;color:rgb(119,119,119);margin:0;font-family:'SF Compact',-apple-system,system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';font-weight:500;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.2px">Jan 17</div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td align="right"><table role="presentation" width="auto" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align:middle"><a href="https://substack.com/@dtreligionprof" target="_blank"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94d69ff5-3ebb-49b1-bab1-28fd45e0184d_3088x2316.jpeg" style="border-radius:500000px;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:550px;border:none;vertical-align:middle;width:40px;height:40px;min-width:40px;min-height:40px;object-fit:cover;margin:0px;display:inline" width="40" height="40"></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table role="presentation" width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="border-top:1px solid rgb(0,0,0,.1);border-bottom:1px solid rgb(0,0,0,.1);min-width:100%"><tbody><tr height="16"><td height="16" style="font-size:0px;line-height:0"> </td></tr><tr><td><table role="presentation" width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td><table role="presentation" width="auto" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align:middle"><table role="presentation" width="38" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td align="center"><a href="https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=2397138&post_id=154929112&utm_source=substack&isFreemail=true&submitLike=true&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyMTMyOTQyNDYsInBvc3RfaWQiOjE1NDkyOTExMiwicmVhY3Rpb24iOiLinaQiLCJpYXQiOjE3MzcxNDg4NzcsImV4cCI6MTczOTc0MDg3NywiaXNzIjoicHViLTIzOTcxMzgiLCJzdWIiOiJyZWFjdGlvbiJ9.YryA7pxjpfyUFn_mzWLLihJOucUyomc6_cy3j2lSIvo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-reaction&r=3izmw6" style="font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';display:inline-block;font-weight:500;border:1px solid rgb(0,0,0,.1);border-radius:9999px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:12px;line-height:1;padding:9px 0;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(119,119,119);min-width:38px;box-sizing:border-box;width:38px" target="_blank"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_36,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2FLucideHeart%3Fv%3D4%26height%3D36%26fill%3Dnone%26stroke%3D%2523808080%26strokeWidth%3D2" width="18" height="18" style="border:none;vertical-align:middle;max-width:18px" alt=""></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td width="8" style="min-width:8px"></td><td style="vertical-align:middle"><table role="presentation" width="38" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td align="center"><a href="https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=2397138&post_id=154929112&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&isFreemail=true&comments=true&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyMTMyOTQyNDYsInBvc3RfaWQiOjE1NDkyOTExMiwiaWF0IjoxNzM3MTQ4ODc3LCJleHAiOjE3Mzk3NDA4NzcsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yMzk3MTM4Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.l_VRK9BIzQ1TRgg_WTpWEY3HjSH61rje9vL_dtLgE0A&r=3izmw6&utm_campaign=email-half-magic-comments&action=post-comment&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email" style="font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';display:inline-block;font-weight:500;border:1px solid rgb(0,0,0,.1);border-radius:9999px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:12px;line-height:1;padding:9px 0;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(119,119,119);min-width:38px;box-sizing:border-box;width:38px" target="_blank"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_36,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2FLucideComments%3Fv%3D4%26height%3D36%26fill%3Dnone%26stroke%3D%2523808080%26strokeWidth%3D2" width="18" height="18" style="border:none;vertical-align:middle;max-width:18px" alt=""></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td width="8" style="min-width:8px"></td><td style="vertical-align:middle"><table role="presentation" width="38" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td align="center"><a href="https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=2397138&post_id=154929112&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&utm_campaign=email-share&action=share&triggerShare=true&isFreemail=true&r=3izmw6&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyMTMyOTQyNDYsInBvc3RfaWQiOjE1NDkyOTExMiwiaWF0IjoxNzM3MTQ4ODc3LCJleHAiOjE3Mzk3NDA4NzcsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yMzk3MTM4Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.l_VRK9BIzQ1TRgg_WTpWEY3HjSH61rje9vL_dtLgE0A" style="font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';display:inline-block;font-weight:500;border:1px solid rgb(0,0,0,.1);border-radius:9999px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:12px;line-height:1;padding:9px 0;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(119,119,119);min-width:38px;box-sizing:border-box;width:38px" target="_blank"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_36,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2FLucideShare2%3Fv%3D4%26height%3D36%26fill%3Dnone%26stroke%3D%2523808080%26strokeWidth%3D2" width="18" height="18" style="border:none;vertical-align:middle;max-width:18px" alt=""></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td width="8" style="min-width:8px"></td><td style="vertical-align:middle"><table role="presentation" width="38" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td align="center"><a href="https://substack.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.maghI12sUKygxGD9VE1YncogSG2_GVPYHh2lkT0FItw?&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email" style="font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';display:inline-block;font-weight:500;border:1px solid rgb(0,0,0,.1);borde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 that King was only superficially, “nominally,” a Christian—that he may have used some Christian language in his speeches, but Christianity was not very consequential for who he was and what he did as a civil rights leader.</p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">One could argue that this is the correct assessment of Martin Luther King—if one ignored everything he wrote or said.</p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">If you dig a little deeper into his life and his words, both his many published writings and also his personal conversations, recorded in memoirs and interviews with the people who knew him, you come across a person who—had his share of imperfections. It does no justice to Martin Luther King to say he never sinned. But he was also a person of faith, a person of a particularly Christian faith.</p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px"><span>What I go back to the most is an essay he wrote, “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence,” a chapter in his 1958 book, </span><em>Stride Toward Freedom</em><span>. He wrote a very similar essay with the same title for </span><em>Christian Century</em><span> magazine in 1960 as part of a series of articles by significant thinkers of the day, called “How My Mind Has Changed.”</span></p><div style="font-size:16px;line-height:26px;margin:32px auto"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align:center"></td><td align="left" width="256" style="text-align:center"><a rel="nofollow ugc noopener" href="https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/a791cb32-f607-4820-be77-f123a621e069?j=eyJ1IjoiM2l6bXc2In0.cJseTa1QtDsT8PH-aKZWfldyURluhh14Zi9VDwPaQP8" style="padding:0;width:auto;height:auto;border:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin:0" target="_blank"><img alt="" width="256" height="363.3782824698368" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa84a55dd-44c9-42f6-969e-044f87759cf0_1409x2000.jpeg" style="border:none!important;vertical-align:middle;display:block;height:auto;margin-bottom:0;width:auto!important;max-width:100%!important;margin:0 auto"></a></td><td style="text-align:center"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">The essay is King’s intellectual and spiritual autobiography, the ideas that influenced him—from his childhood in Atlanta, through his undergraduate days at Morehouse College, then as a divinity student at Crozer Theological Seminary, then as a PhD student at Boston University, and then as a minister of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and leader of the famous bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.</p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">King was nurtured in the conservative Baptist theology of his father’s church, then later schooled in the liberal Protestant tradition. He was inspired by the Social Gospel writings of Walter Rauschenbusch, who emphasized God’s concern for people’s social and economic well-being as well as their spiritual well-being. King was challenged by the “Christian realism” of Reinhold Niebuhr, who emphasized human sinfulness and the role that power plays in establishing justice. King was also receptive to truth from sources outside of Christianity. Most famously, he was drawn to the nonviolent philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.</p><div style="font-size:16px;line-height:26px;margin:32px auto"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align:center"></td><td align="left" width="256" style="text-align:center"><a rel="nofollow ugc noopener" href="https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/3aa8b262-ec43-481c-bb2e-a4344c855101?j=eyJ1IjoiM2l6bXc2In0.cJseTa1QtDsT8PH-aKZWfldyURluhh14Zi9VDwPaQP8" style="padding:0;width:auto;height:auto;border:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin:0" target="_blank"><img alt="" width="256" height="361.4117647058824" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbaf10079-93bf-4912-a496-e4e542daff83_850x1200.webp" style="border:none!important;vertical-align:middle;display:block;height:auto;margin-bottom:0;width:auto!important;max-width:100%!important;margin:0 auto"></a></td><td style="text-align:center"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px"><span>Because of his openness to truth from all sources, it would be a mistake to paint Martin Luther King as a Christian fundamentalist, who found truth only in a narrow, literal interpretation of the Bible. But it would also be a mistake to deny he was a Christian. Even in adopting Gandhi’s practice of </span><em>satyāgraha</em><span>, King was just trying to put Jesus’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount into action.</span></p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">Throughout his journey, King sought to apply his Christian faith to the racial and economic injustice that he had witnessed since he was a child. The reason to celebrate Martin Luther King in Christian churches is because he, with all his human imperfections, shows other Christians a way to follow Jesus.</p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px"><span>There are two ways of approaching Martin Luther King as a model of faith. One way is to say if we really believe in Jesus, if we really are called to follow him, we should be doing all the things. We should be like Martin Luther King—establishing justice and eliminating war, poverty, and oppression. Certainly, this is true, but a list of things we </span><em>should be</em><span> doing—even if it is a good list—by itself is not very empowering. In fact, it’s overwhelming.</span></p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px"><span>There is another way understanding the model of faith that Dr. King sets forth. That is to say, </span><em>because</em><span> we believe in Jesus, we </span><em>can</em><span> do all the things. Because we trust in the God revealed in Jesus—the God who overcomes evil with good, the God who overcomes hate with love—we know that love and goodness cannot fail. We can, with God’s help, build the beloved community of equality and justice that Dr. King spoke of.</span></p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">In another context, at a later time, King famously said (paraphrasing another preacher), “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” One might question, and people do indeed question, whether this is really the case. Clearly the world is full of injustice. Clearly, many injustices have never been corrected. To the point, King made this statement in a sermon he preached at the National Cathedral in Washington DC on the last day of March, 1968, just days before he himself was unjustly murdered. How can we be certain that the long arc of the universe will bend toward the right place?</p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">Ultimately, we cannot be certain. But in making this affirmation, King was not just expressing his own optimism. He was affirming the faith that he had already affirmed ten years earlier in “Pilgrimage Toward Nonviolence,” his “conviction that the universe is on the side of justice.”</p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">In the midst of their nonviolent resistance to evil, King and others were strengthened by a “cosmic companionship.” King writes, “Whether we call it an unconscious process, an impersonal Brahman, or a Personal Being of matchless power and infinite love, there is a creative force in this universe that works to bring the disconnected aspects of reality into a harmonious whole.”</p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">It was King’s faith in his “cosmic companion” that sustained him through his most difficult struggles, as he wrote:</p><blockquote style="border-left:4px solid #baa049;margin:20px 0;padding:0"><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);margin-left:20px;line-height:26px;font-size:16px"><em>Perhaps the suffering, frustration and agonizing moments which I have had to undergo occasionally as a result of my involvement in a difficult struggle have drawn me closer to God. Whatever the cause, God has been profoundly real to me in recent months. In the midst of outer dangers, I have felt an inner calm and known resources of strength that only God could give. In many instances I have felt the power of God transforming the fatigue of despair into the buoyancy of hope. I am convinced that the universe is under the control of a loving purpose and that in the struggle for righteousness man has cosmic companionship. Behind the harsh appearances of the world there is a benign power.</em></p></blockquote><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">It was also King’s faith that helped him face the ultimate challenge. He knew that he might not live to see his dream of a beloved community realized, not with his eyes of flesh. But through the eyes of faith, he had already seen it. He made it clear in his last public speech, the night before he was killed, in Memphis, Tennessee. He had “been to the mountaintop” and he had “looked over” and “seen the promised land.” </p><div style="font-size:16px;line-height:26px;margin:32px auto"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align:center"></td><td align="left" width="428" style="text-align:center"><a rel="nofollow ugc noopener" href="https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/401eab04-5416-4e12-800b-f791dad89b33?j=eyJ1IjoiM2l6bXc2In0.cJseTa1QtDsT8PH-aKZWfldyURluhh14Zi9VDwPaQP8" style="padding:0;width:auto;height:auto;border:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin:0" target="_blank"><img alt="" width="428" height="240.75" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_428,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff682648a-4732-4215-bbe3-8a18707ca59f_1920x1080.jpeg" style="border:none!important;vertical-align:middle;display:block;height:auto;margin-bottom:0;width:auto!important;max-width:100%!important;margin:0 auto"></a></td><td style="text-align:center"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">It could be that the greatest gift Martin Luther King can give us in our time is the promise of “cosmic companionship,” which he modeled through his faith. Why are so many people, especially young people, alienated from the Christian church and even Christian faith? There are many factors, but high on the list are the troubling questions that faith raises: Does God exist? Does God care? And if God cares, why is there so much evil in the world?</p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">These are serious questions. They deserve serious answers. There are times when people really need consistent and coherent philosophical responses to those questions. Dr. King could give and did give those kinds of responses. He did have a PhD in theology after all. But more importantly, Martin Luther King was a person who knew suffering and injustice, and faced those realities with undying faith in a loving God.</p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">King answered the questions—does God exist, does God care, will God overcome injustice—many times over and always with a “yes.” The “yes” that mattered the most did not come in the form of an intellectual argument. It was the “yes” he gave with his life, by embodying his faith through service to others, depending on the grace of God.</p><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">And we can all do the same thing. We can all model our faith through service and be a light to the world. As Martin Luther King himself said in yet another sermon:</p><blockquote style="border-left:4px solid #baa049;margin:20px 0;padding:0"><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);margin-left:20px;line-height:26px;font-size:16px"><em><span>Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.</span><span style="font-size:20px">¹</span></em></p></blockquote><div style="font-size:16px;line-height:26px"><div style="margin-top:16px;font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';font-size:18px;max-width:384px;width:fit-content;line-height:22px;display:flex;text-align:center;font-weight:400;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto"><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">Thanks for reading David T, Religion prof at MC! This post is public so feel free to share it.</p></div><p style="margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px;text-align:center;border-radius:4px"><a rel="nofollow ugc noopener" href="https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=2397138&post_id=154929112&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&utm_campaign=email-share&action=share&triggerShare=true&isFreemail=true&r=3izmw6&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyMTMyOTQyNDYsInBvc3RfaWQiOjE1NDkyOTExMiwiaWF0IjoxNzM3MTQ4ODc3LCJleHAiOjE3Mzk3NDA4NzcsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yMzk3MTM4Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.l_VRK9BIzQ1TRgg_WTpWEY3HjSH61rje9vL_dtLgE0A" style="font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';display:inline-block;box-sizing:border-box;border:none;border-radius:8px;font-size:14px;line-height:20px;font-weight:600;text-align:center;margin:0;opacity:1;outline:none;white-space:nowrap;color:#ffffff!important;text-decoration:none!important;background-color:#baa049;padding:12px 20px;height:auto" target="_blank"><span style="color:#ffffff;text-decoration:none">Share</span></a></p></div><div style="font-size:16px;line-height:26px"><div style="font-size:16px;direction:ltr!important;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;font-family:system-ui,-apple-system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j1yZXN0YWNrLWNvbW1lbnQmcj0zaXptdzYmdG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpveU1UTXlPVFF5TkRZc0luQnZjM1JmYVdRaU9qRTFORGt5T1RFeE1pd2lhV0YwSWpveE56TTNNVFE0T0RjM0xDSmxlSEFpT2pFM016azNOREE0Tnpjc0ltbHpjeUk2SW5CMVlpMHlNemszTVRNNElpd2ljM1ZpSWpvaWNHOXpkQzF5WldGamRHbHZiaUo5LmxfVlJLOUJJelExVFJnZ19XVHBXRVkzSGpTSDYxcmplOXZMX2R0TGdFMEEiLCJwIjoxNTQ5MjkxMTIsInMiOjIzOTcxMzgsImYiOnRydWUsInUiOjIxMzI5NDI0NiwiaWF0IjoxNzM3MTQ4ODc3LCJleHAiOjE3Mzk3NDA4NzcsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0wIiwic3ViIjoibGluay1yZWRpcmVjdCJ9.maghI12sUKygxGD9VE1YncogSG2_GVPYHh2lkT0FItw?&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email" style="font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';display:inline-block;font-weight:500;border:1px solid rgb(0,0,0,.1);border-radius:9999px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:12px;line-height:12px;padding:9px 14px;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(119,119,119)" target="_blank"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_36,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2FNoteForwardIcon%3Fv%3D4%26height%3D36%26fill%3Dnone%26stroke%3D%2523808080%26strokeWidth%3D2" width="18" height="18" style="margin-right:8px;min-width:18px;min-height:18px;border:none;vertical-align:middle;max-width:18px" alt=""><span style="vertical-align:middle">Restack</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td align="right"><table role="presentation" width="auto" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr height="16"><td height="16" style="font-size:0px;line-height:0"> </td></tr></tbody></table><div style="color:rgb(119,119,119);text-align:center;font-size:16px;line-height:26px;padding:24px 0"><div style="font-size:16px;line-height:26px;padding-bottom:24px"><p style="list-style:none;font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';padding-bottom:0;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;margin:0;color:rgb(119,119,119);text-decoration:unset">© 2025 <span>David Torbett</span><br>548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 <br><a href="https://substack.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.N2kTGnEgcmLWwh625j1A_AMu13ftZany5tjhl3Wh2iI?" style="text-decoration:underline;color:rgb(119,119,119)" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(119,119,119);text-decoration:underline">Unsubscribe</span></a></p></div><p style="padding:0 24px;font-size:12px;line-height:20px;margin:0;color:rgb(119,119,119);font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,'Apple Color Emoji','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol';padding-bottom:0;margin-top:0"><a href="https://link.sbstck.com/redirect/1253311f-529a-46d7-aa04-7737868ac305?j=eyJ1IjoiM2l6bXc2In0.cJseTa1QtDsT8PH-aKZWfldyURluhh14Zi9VDwPaQP8" style="color:rgb(119,119,119);text-decoration:none;display:inline-block;margin:0 4px" target="_blank"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_262,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Fimg%2Femail%2Fgeneric-app-button%402x.png" width="131" alt="Get the app" height="40" style="max-width:550px;border:none!important;vertical-align:middle"></a><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9zdWJzdGFjay5jb20vc2lnbnVwP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9c3Vic3RhY2smdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY29udGVudD1mb290ZXImdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPWF1dG9maWxsZWQtZm9vdGVyJmZyZWVTaWdudXBFbWFpbD1mdXVzbS5vZmZpY2VAZ21haWwuY29tJnI9M2l6bXc2IiwicCI6MTU0OTI5MTEyLCJzIjoyMzk3MTM4LCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1IjoyMTMyOTQyNDYsImlhdCI6MTczNzE0ODg3NywiZXhwIjoxNzM5NzQwODc3LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.1ViGWbkV_UDKmw9wcauYUr6ovpwIK9vwb5kuY0Tmipo?" style="color:rgb(119,119,119);text-decoration:none;display:inline-block;margin:0 4px" target="_blank"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_270,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Fimg%2Femail%2Fpublish-button%402x.png" width="135" alt="Start writing" height="40" style="max-width:550px;border:none!important;vertical-align:middle"></a></p></div></div></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table><img src="https://eotrx.substackcdn.com/open?token=eyJtIjoiPDIwMjUwMTE3MjEyMTEzLjMuM2Q0Yzg1ZWQ3NGM5ZWEzN0BtZzIuc3Vic3RhY2suY29tPiIsInUiOjIxMzI5NDI0NiwiciI6ImZ1dXNtLm9mZmljZUBnbWFpbC5jb20iLCJkIjoibWcyLnN1YnN0YWNrLmNvbSIsInAiOjE1NDkyOTExMiwidCI6Im5ld3NsZXR0ZXIiLCJhIjoiZXZlcnlvbmUiLCJzIjoyMzk3MTM4LCJjIjoicG9zdCIsImYiOnRydWUsInBvc2l0aW9uIjoiYm90dG9tIiwiaWF0IjoxNzM3MTQ4ODc3LCJleHAiOjE3Mzk3NDA4NzcsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0wIiwic3ViIjoiZW8ifQ.pO2uhgBUmTQONzY4FX78Akk8bPncISaLvtEVwiEeX0U" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" style="height:1px!important;width:1px!important;border-width:0!important;margin-top:0!important;margin-bottom:0!important;margin-right:0!important;margin-left:0!important;padding-top:0!important;padding-bottom:0!important;padding-right:0!important;padding-left:0!important"><img width="1" height="1" alt="" src="https://email.mg2.substack.com/o/eJw80Euu5CAMheHVXIZReCTAgLVEDnbSqAOUwFQru2_VQ3d6LP365AhMZ213eNTOAoNB6RYnKEirrTTOOSMoQ7q2kwo1YMIN-Pdq7WJX8Sf4uK7RL55IgwIkXBTq4_D77FxU4EUKalbLLKVVUkmpJz1pNNEthNZET6Dtj5nzqaY-9s4Q_06xZpH6djR6AwK3QeLF3GBgohIp0JPaXct3ThjkYrzyUqrPwveDQqF__SJmauIx9i3WnEdJfG9UYL8Iv-GxXykCp1peIaW9ldqJFo4xep7qcaRIP2Y-X5a3rY8da4ZUAsIzIde2E7PgzytHp_YOSa28UWYVz6D-BwAA___1lHne"></div></div><div><br clear="all"></div><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Dawn Hewitt</div><div>Office assistant</div><div>First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta</div><div>232 Third St.</div><div>Marietta, OH 45750</div><div>(740)373-1238</div><div>Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 10 a.m.--2 p.m. <br></div></div></div></div>