Timeless Words

A friend of mine recently posted a link to Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."  Today, I sat down and read it from beginning to end. I am ashamed to say that this was the first time I have ever done so. Though I have read multiple sections in isolation from the larger whole, I have never taken the time to read it in its entirety and to better understand its context and the argument(s) he makes - to drink of this man's wisdom and courage and try to imagine whether I would have had the faith to respond appropriately had I lived a generation prior. His words inspire. They also hurt. At points reading this letter, I felt the sharp poignant sting of guilt as if his questions and critique were directed as much at me and the church today as they were the church of 1963. May his words leave you with not only a sense of awe and gratefulness for his willingness to confront the powers of his day but also with a call to go be an 'extremist in love.'


http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/docs/KING_LETTER_FROM_BIRMINGHAM_CITY_JAIL_(AS08).PDF