Jan. 21 is the Rev. Martin Luther King Day in the U.S. I was 11 when King was assassinated. Being a keen student of history, the stories of the desegregation of public schools and the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott were part of my teenage years as were the protest songs of Pete Seeger.
King is remembered for his call to non-violence protest: "We will be guided by the highest principles of law and order... the deepest principles of Christian faith. Love must be our regulating ideal..."
I was saddened to realize King's "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" was a response to moderate white Christian leaders who criticized his call for integration, telling him to wait patiently while labelling his actions "unwise and untimely."
With grace he responded... "that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality..."
Idle No More, a protest movement comprised of members of Canada's First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities along with their supporters, has been in the news.
Complex issues around treaty rights exist in Canada. Underlying those complex issues is fear of change and hurt.
I'll pray for the leadership of Canada to be guided by the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, who inspired by his commitment to Jesus understood what we will need to comprehend and act upon in Canada - that we are bound together all of us by a mutuality that requires justice.
Jim Short can be reached at [email protected].
