And on the eve of the bus boycotts in Montgomery, at a time when many were still doubtful about the possibilities of change, a time when those in the black community mistrusted themselves, and at times mistrusted each other, King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks to us today:
“Unity is the great need of the hour” is what King said. Unity is how we shall overcome.
What Dr. King understood is that if just one person chose to walk instead of ride the bus, those walls of oppression would not be moved. But maybe if a few more walked, the foundation might start to shake. If a few more women were willing to do what Rosa Parks had done, maybe the cracks would start to show. If teenagers took freedom rides from North to South, maybe a few bricks would come loose. Maybe if white folks marched because they had come to understand that their freedom too was at stake in the impending battle, the wall would begin to sway. And if enough Americans were awakened to the injustice; if they joined together, North and South, rich and poor, Christian and Jew, then perhaps that wall would come tumbling down, and justice would flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Unity is the great need of the hour ”“ the great need of this hour. Not because it sounds pleasant or because it makes us feel good, but because it’s the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in this country.
I’m not talking about a budget deficit. I’m not talking about a trade deficit. I’m not talking about a deficit of good ideas or new plans.
I’m talking about a moral deficit. I’m talking about an empathy deficit. I’m taking about an inability to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we are our brother’s keeper; we are our sister’s keeper; that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny.
This isn’t a sermon, it’s a campaign speech, and every time he does it in a church the host violates IRS rules. If it were a Republican, Americans United would be having a hissy fit, but because Obama is a Democrat and of the same denomination as Barry Lynn, you can bet there won’t be a peep out of AU.
Actually, it’s a very good sermon / speech, in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King. I, personally, don’t agree with everything that Obama stands for, but I do find his talk of hope and unity intriguing. My hope that if he is elected (I won’t be voting for him, however), that he can make his hopes a reality and bring some hope to the US. I also hope he doesn’t do it on the backs of those of us who pay very high taxes as we can’t take much more (income redistribution!). I find the Clinton’s attacks on Obama for talking about hope disturbing. There’s an interesting theological theme here – hope expressed in words (God’s Word brings much hope) vs. the diminishment of hope (a rather cynical view of the world) by minimizing the words of hope as being hokey or not relevant. Words of hope are very relevant and very powerful. Might just be what takes Obama to the Democrat Party nomination and beyond.