Local clergy reflect on King’s legacy.
By: Leon Tovey
Editor’s note: Matters of Faith is an occasional series focusing on religion and faith in the Cranbury, Jamesburg and Monroe area.
Local members of the clergy said this week that while the message of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is as valid today as ever, people should look beyond the words to the actions and the faith of the man for true inspiration.
"He was a person who acted out his faith and it cost him his life," said the Rev. Gary Filson of the Presbyterian Church of Jamesburg. "You just don’t find people with that kind of conviction every day."
Dr. King’s anti-violence message and call for equality among all races had the resonance it had with people not only because it was eloquently and powerfully presented, the Rev. Filson said, but also because Dr. King led the struggle from the front.
The Rev. John Foster of the United Methodist Church of Cranbury agreed.
"He was and is an inspiration; he lived as he talked," the Rev. Foster said. "It’s one thing to stand at the pulpit and preach these ideas, but to actively live by them as he did, that’s something else."
The life and achievements of Dr. King, who was born on Jan. 15, 1929, will be commemorated nationally Monday. Dr. King, whose campaign for civil rights began in 1956 and ended with his assassination April 4, 1968, could have celebrated his 77th birthday Sunday had he not been gunned down in Memphis.
During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Dr. King dedicated himself to bringing racial harmony to the United States. He not only extolled the virtues of nonviolent struggle against oppression, but also took part in such struggles, organizing and taking part in boycotts and protests.
He was arrested, assaulted, threatened with death and ultimately assassinated for his efforts, but not before being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and helping to bring the struggles of black Americans to the front of the national consciousness.
In doing so, Dr. King lived a life that was truly in line with the message of Christ, the Revs. Filson and Foster said.
Both men said that they have tried to incorporate the lessons of that life into their own personal and professional lives.
The Rev. Filson said that a visit he made in November to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., where Dr. King was assassinated, really brought the impact of Dr. King’s life home to him.
At the time, the Rev. Filson was preparing for a December missionary trip to Cuba, and he said standing beneath the balcony where Dr. King had been martyred made him think about not just his role as a pastor, but his life as a Christian.
"I believe enough in what I’m doing to go to Cuba and minister there maybe I wouldn’t have if not for that example," he said.
For his part, the Rev. Foster said he tries to incorporate the lessons of Dr. King into the daily activities of being a pastor at a time when many Americans seem to be embracing divisiveness.
"Of course the nature of my work is not exactly comparable to what (Dr. King) was doing," the Rev. Foster said. "But it helps to have his example to call me to my conscience when I get caught up in other things.
"The message of Christ was to respect and learn from one another and to live a life according to the principles we embrace," he added. "It helps us all to have the example of, say, a Martin Luther King, so we can recognize that we are brothers and sisters in the human race."