“…We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice…
…But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr ‘I have a Dream’ speech 28th August 1963.
Sometimes in our pursuit of freedom and justice (whatever form that is, be it racial/social/religious) we often feel blinded by our bitterness of injustice led to commit acts of violence or perpetuate violent voices that promote these feelings; and by so doing, we negate out message and undermine the cause that is meant to unite rather than divide. I know I have done this myself and I acknowledge my flaw within that. However, in the same breath, I have often sought to share both sides of the coin with the view of waking people up from ignorance rather than just promote attack. However, this perspective hasn’t always come across in the things I post.
This morning, I woke up with the song freedom on my heart and somehow these words from MLK came to mind and I realised it served as a great reminder for my people and my enemies and friends that in our pursuit of justice, and freedom, to also pursue Peace and pursue LOVE. 1 Cor 14:1 exhorts us to “Pursue LOVE“. I wonder, in all of our pursuits that if we had this cause as our foundation, whether it would change the format in which we pursue justice and freedom and dance upon injustice? I don’t know, but I’d sure like to find out…
Tim Ferriss's 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog. Tim is an author of 5 #1 NYT/WSJ bestsellers, investor (FB, Uber, Twitter, 50+ more), and host of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast (400M+ downloads)