Martin Luther King, Justice and Mercy

It's the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. Martin Luther King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott at age 26, and Rep. John Lewis helped to lead freedom rides at 23, not letting age stop them from contributing to the push for social reform. There are many young people exerting their influence this year's March on Washington, including the Black Youth Vote coalition. And today, the veterans are people like Reverend Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III, who were 8 and 5 years old, respectively, in 1963 when the first March took place. In his drive for equal rights, Dr. King spoke for social equality, voting rights, integrated equal education, and jobs. Now 73 and a Democratic congressman from Georgia, John Lewis, the youngest of Dr. King's inner circle, has been interviewed often in the past week. He told ABC : "When you have been sitting on a lunch counter stool and someone walks up and spits on you or pours hot water or hot coffee on you and you say you're committed to non-violence, you have to grow up....So by the time of the March on Washington, I was 23, but I was an older person." The basic rights Dr. King fought for have long since been secured for Black Americans. Today, all Americans - Black, White, Hispanic and Latinos, Native, Asian, other minorities - face serious problems, including joblessness, drug addiction, street violence, poor education opportunities. These problems impact America's future because they fall heavily on the young. And they must be solved by an America united, with the goodwill and brotherhood enshrined in American culture. Dividing groups for political reasons, baiting or exclusion based on race or cultural differences, ignoring the problems because one happens to live in a community not negatively affected by them - these are not American values. President Barack Obama, who cites Martin Luther King as a major influence on his life, spoke today to honor the effort of his role model and the road that must still be walked. He called it "a step for justice " ~~~~~ But, dear readers, I would suggest that justice has been achieved. And it is insufficient because it is blind and therefore merciless. America has lost its sense of reaching out to bring others in. It has abandoned mercy and brotherly love for fierce demands for justice. Most American hearts and consciences do not seek blind justice. They seek social peace. They seek an econony that works and provides jobs and advancement for all. They seek education that prepares their youngsters for life as Americans who respect themselves and everyone else. Shakespeate said it well 400 years ago, when Portia spoke in The Merchant of Venice : "The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed. It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. It is mightiest in the mightiest, It becomes the throned monarch better than his crown. His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, An attribute to awe and majesty Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings. But mercy is above this sceptred sway, It is enthroned in the hearts of kings. It is an attribute to God himself. And earthly power dost then become likest God's, Where mercy seasons justice." Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.