“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
This is the quote that has been on my mind this Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. This is the quote that has struck me this year and made me ask myself if I am a person of “good will” but of “shallow understanding” and “lukewarm acceptance” when it comes to so many difficult topics and issues. Am I someone who would rather keep peace in the form of cheap comfort or am I someone who is willing to be disliked by the status quo for standing for what is right?
I’m afraid that I know the answer. And I’m afraid that I don’t like it.
God: Help each us to find our own unique voice—our own way of speaking Your voice—and then help us to speak it. As you have challenged, help us to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” Help us to “Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.” May we remember that there are so many layers of destitution—so many layers of poor and needy—so many reasons that people cannot speak for themselves—and may we then be a people—may I be a person—who does not settle for shallow understanding or lukewarm acceptance but an absolute understanding of your Love, justice, and mercy for all. Forgive us, God—forgive me—for I have sinned and fallen short today and every day. Help us—help me—to do better than this. Amen.
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