Utilizing MLK's Message of Love in Today's World

Earlier this morning I was listening to the Martin Luther King speech, “I Have a Dream” on the radio. It moved me to tears and reminded me of the significant influence that he had on our nation.

It also reminded me of my time working as the director of the Consciousness, Healing and Ecology program at New College of California. In this program I taught a section called Spiritual Activism; which is the study of how consciousness has and can change the world. As part of this inquiry we studied the impact that both Martin Luther King and his predecessor Gandhi had on the world by using the power of love to address injustice.

If you have ever been a teacher you will know that anything that you teach you must really understand first yourself, if you are to teach it well. Understanding this concept I spent several weeks immersing myself in the work of both of these amazing human beings. And, I came out of that time completely changed.

The essence that I got out of their work is this: Love conquers all and heals all. If you want to change anything in a deep and significant way; touch the persons heart with love; even if they are your enemies and want to hurt (or even kill) you. That in and of itself completely changed me.

But, then I started pondering what it must have been like to be on the front lines as an activist in this time, see your fellow activists being hurt by police brutality, knowing that you might be next and having the deep intention to love your enemy no matter what. That completely broke me open.

In this inquiry I realized that in order to fully step into love you must relinquish the fear that underlies the desire to protect yourself. In essence it is about letting go of the voice of protection and completely trusting in the power of love. This way of being has the power to completely change humanity.

Even though most of us aren’t activist on the front line, the core of this teaching can be easily translated to today’s world. We are in the midst of great change and fear is rampant in our society and underlies all survival issues. It is the core fear that runs the voice that wants to protect. It is: fear of violence, fear of poverty, fear of death, fear of loss, fear of fear. It is the fear that I see time and time again when working with people who have physical issues due to survival fears and contractions, a core issues that I see with many patients.

In this time of change, we have the choice of how we move forward. This fear is a significant weight that holds us down. In order to truly step into who we are we must let it go and that requires every ounce of courage we have.

The civil rights activists who stood up against incredible police violence, while not attacking back and loving their enemies have something to teach us.

In Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech he says, “Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” Soul force is the force that comes from deep within our core. It is the feeling and knowing that what we are doing is in right alignment with the beauty of the universe. It gives us the courage to feel the fear and do it anyway even if we are shaking in our boots. It is the knowing that we are an intricate part of the web of the universe and the part that we are playing is significant. It is the knowing that no matter what happens that ultimately we are more than this physical body.

Soul force is the only energy that I know of that can give us the capacity to meet this fear full on. And, in doing so we find the courage to step fully into who we truly are; to let go of the ropes, chains and ballasts of fear and surrender into the healing power and freedom of love.

Happy Martin Luther King Day, may we honor his memory with our courage to face our fears and step into the love of who we truly are!