a new friend of mine with a fresh sense of energy invited me to attend this human rights conference at stanford university last saturday to honor mlk (since april 4th marked the 40th anniversary of his assassination). i was so excited to go. seated at the kresge auditorium on the stanford law school campus, seeing the video clips of king and hearing his words vibrate within us listeners, i was just so happy to be there, holding my cup of coffee in one hand and gripping the armrest of the wooden auditorium chair with my other hand. later, i heard one of the speakers there, a woman by the name of reverend deborah l. johnson, and i was literally--- blown away. in fact her remarks impacted me so much, that i stood up to the mic in front of everyone in the auditorium and told her that. (i noticed i was shaking with anxiety symptoms after doing that--but i felt moved to--so it was worth the pain). :)
here's a moment from her speech that i recalled:
the reverend had said that the way king really spoke of the notion of "loving thy neighbor," or the notion of "love" itself was that "the love he spoke about was not a love based on family bonds, or kinship, or brotherhood, or some common link you experienced with another person, but rather a deep love for any person-- even if you don't like that person, or even if he is your enemy." she told us that this love is one where "'you love that person as if he were yourself" because ultimately we are one indivisible whole.
those words were so compelling for me that i couldn't hold them inside--i had to share them with you. :)
Monday, April 7, 2008
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