Coretta Scott King Buried Today

9 Black Baptist Churches Burned This Week

I had not expected to sit in tears for better than two hours this afternoon (Tuesday, the 7th of February 2006) listening to the speeches of presidents, the famous and the little known giving tribute at the funeral of Coretta Scott King. In every relationship between people, I see the opportunity for caring, loving-kindness and a magnificent sharing of the human condition. I found myself in tears not because of sadness over the passing of a great woman, but because with one exception (which I will come to in a minute), the point of Coretta Scott King’s life and gifts (as I see them) were missed.

Coretta Scott was a bright, attractive, talented musician and student when she met the young Martin Luther King, Jr. in Boston in the early fifties. While she could certainly have gone on to be highly successful in any number of fields, she chose to marry Martin Luther King, Jr. and to support his work and support him personally. This charismatic young man intended to be a player in the arena and Coretta must have been equally clear about what was beginning. While no one could have predicted the amount of risk or violence, the shock of the bombing of their home and the narrow escape from injury of Mrs. King and their first child, Yolanda, in 1956 must have made clear what the future might bring.

There were attacks from the radical racist organizations like the Klu Klux Klan but the most disturbing attacks came from the highest of quarters within the federal government.

Hoover’s FBI mailed tapes of King’s sexual affairs to his wife and tried to blackmail him politically; in an anonymous letter, encouraged him to commit suicide; and, among other disinformation successes, convinced Marquette University officials in 1964 to back out of giving King an honorary degree.

Parting of the Waters: America During the King Years, Taylor Branch

Think just for a moment about what it was like to be Coretta Scott King in those moments. To support and nurture a man, a man with all too human foibles, in the face of the most important struggle for human rights in the history of the United States. It must have been an incredible job. And, Coretta Scott King did it with grace, humility and dignity. Maya Angelou spoke that afternoon of moments when the “girls” would admit frustrations, even anger. But in public, I never saw the woman miss a step, not once.

In 1964, Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Price. He and Coretta went to Oslo as heroes to the world and returned to a country where their children were not permitted in the “white” school.

In the same year, driving to North Carolina to begin a student exchange with an all black independent school, my mentor, Albert Boothby, passed by restaurant after restaurant. “Why?” I asked naively.

“Because if your new classmates are not welcome here, neither are you.” All the restaurants we passed were segregated in 1964.

I understand those conditions better now and the events of this week make it very clear that the job is a long way from finished. Nine black, Baptist churches were burned this week in Alabama. It is 2006, and I hear no moral outcry. I almost hear no mention of it at all. It is certainly not discussed in the grocery line. And, I certainly don’t hear an understanding that the perpetrator or perpetrators are unwell, insecure and full of fear. What I see is business as usual.

If our world is going to be a place of healing, a place where human rights is not a politically correct phrase but a way of life it is going to require something from each one of us. The one person in all of the wonderful, glowing, heart-warming speeches who hit the nail on the head was Bill Clinton, the forty-second President of the United States. He and Hilary Clinton received a huge welcome upon moving to the podium. As President Clinton began to speak, he said, “You had best hold your applause, because you may not like what I have to say.” He asked us to imagine the life of this woman in that casket, to think about her feelings, her choices, her courage. And, then it came (and I paraphrase):

“Nothing will change unless we see that it is now us who needs to act. It is up to everyone in this room and around the world. We must look inside and see what we intend to do this first day of our lives, in the face of the absence of this great life before us.”

Our problem is that we notice so little, we miss the majesty in everything. We miss the opportunity. A crystalline morning is brilliant, without a doubt. A beautiful sunrise is spectacular. If we were completely conscious, so is every breath that keeps us alive, our incredible body with its thousands of parts and organs, each with a critical role. We complain about the rain because we do not see it as part of the miracle. When you experience loving-kindness in greater and greater degrees, it begins to be obvious that there is never such a thing as too much, because it is each moment that is miraculous and each moment is magical.

Coretta Scott King appeared to be present in every moment. She supported Martin when it was anything but easy. She loved when it would have been understandable to hate. The kind of action that is required to bring loving-kindness as a ground of being among people is equal to the depth of courage and grace of a Coretta Scott King. The only question is, are we willing? Are we willing to be heroic?

Often we act as if only the Coretta Scott and Martin Luther Kings of the world have the capacities of those we admire the most.

The path to a world where loving-kindness is a way of being begins with what we will do today that we believed impossible yesterday. Who is it we cannot love? Who is it we believe does not deserve our love because of what they did yesterday?

Great souls, heroic people, the leaders will come and go. Christ, the Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Coretta and Martin King. How many will it take? When will we hear what they say? What Bill Clinton said last week?

Today and every day from this moment on is up to us.