Instructions:
For this discussion, read through one or more of Dr. King’s speeches housed at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.
We recommend:
“The Christian Way of Life in Human Relations,” Address Delivered at the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches, December 1957
Loving Your Enemies, Sermon Delivered at the Detroit Council of Churches’ Noon Lenten Services, March 1961
“Levels of Love” Sermon Delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, September 1962
The key points from Dr. King’s message of nonviolence:
- Nonviolence projects an ethic of love to the center of our lives.
- Agape love means understanding, redemptive good will for all men.
- Agape is love in action, a willingness to go to any length to restore community.
- Agape means recognition of the fact that all life is interrelated.
- The universe is on the side of justice.
Discussion:
Dr. King describes Agape as “a willingness to go to any length to restore community.” When have you felt Agape in action in your life or your community?
How does agape call you to live in your community now, in 2018?
Coming from a love centered in agape, what might it look like to experiment with engaging someone with whom you disagree?
