Week 3--MLK Reflection

One of my undergrad professors, Crerar Douglas, gives his experience of watching Martin Luther King preach at Riverside Church in Harlem when he attended Columbia. Douglas was raised in a quiet and comfortable, middle-class Christian environment. He describes being totally transformed by listening to Dr. King preach. He writes, “King was talking to a God whose yes to life meant death to all passivity, both the passivity of a God who only waits and that of a young man who only says yes and then starts counting his private blessings.” Douglas speaks of his conversion as one from counting private blessings to, all of a sudden, recognizing and counting the curses of our society. This ongoing recognition for King manifested in apocalyptic preaching that jarred people out of their complacency. In our hindsight of Dr. King forty years later, we have received a more domesticated and subdued image of Dr. King from the media. As “non-violence” is one of the first things we think of when we think of Dr. King, we often forget that his message warned the complacent people of our nation of a wrathful God who will not stand for injustice.

For anyone who's interested, here's the link to Dr. Douglas' conversion experience:

http://www.crerardouglas.com/documents/My_experience.htm