Re: New King James Version: Experiencing And Sharing Hope God's Way
Hilke Mcnally
My God, I am yours for time and eternity. Teach me to cast myself entirely into the arms of your loving Providence with a lively, unlimited confidence in your compassionate, tender pity.
Grant, O most merciful Redeemer, That whatever you ordain or permit may be acceptable to me. Take from my heart all painful anxiety; let nothing sadden me but sin, nothing delight me but the hope of coming to the possession of You my God and my all, in your everlasting kingdom. Amen.
New King James Version: Experiencing and Sharing Hope God's Way
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Lord God, whose days are without end and whose mercies are beyond counting, keep us mindful that life is short and the hour of death is unknown. Let your Spirit guide our days on earth in the ways of holiness and justice, that we may serve you in union with the whole Church, sure in faith, strong in hope, perfected in love. And when our earthly journey is ended, lead us rejoicing into your kingdom, where you live forever and ever. Amen.
All that we do in the present, in working for justice and beauty, in searching for truth in every sphere of life, above all in speaking cheerfully and wisely of Jesus, is rooted in the scriptures, both of Israel and of the early Church, and is designed to produce hope.
Perhaps the greatest indicator of character is the capacity to recognize and appropriately respondto other people who are experiencing the very challenge or adversity that is most immediatelyand forcefully pressing upon us. Character is revealed, for example, in the power to discern thesuffering of other people when we ourselves are suffering; in the ability to detect the hunger ofothers when we are hungry; and in the power to reach out and extend compassion for the spiritualagony of others when we are in the midst of our own spiritual distress. Thus, character isdemonstrated by looking and reaching outward when the natural and instinctive response is to beself-absorbed and turn inward. If such a capacity is indeed the ultimate criterion of moralcharacter, then the Savior of the world is the perfect example of such a consistent and charitablecharacter.
Let me suggest that you and I must be praying and yearning and striving and working to cultivatea Christlike character if we hope to receive the spiritual gift of charity--the pure love of Christ. Charity is not a trait or characteristic we acquire exclusively through our own purposivepersistence and determination. Indeed we must honor our covenants and live worthily and do allthat we can do to qualify for the gift; but ultimately the gift of charity possesses us--we do notposses it (see Moroni 7:47). The Lord determines if and when we receive all spiritual gifts, butwe must do all in our power to desire and yearn and invite and qualify for such gifts. As weincreasingly act in a manner congruent with the character of Christ, then perhaps we areindicating to heaven in a most powerful manner our desire for the supernal spiritual gift ofcharity. And clearly we are being blessed with this marvelous gift as we increasingly reachoutward when the natural man or woman in us would typically turn inward.
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
While working toward addiction recovery, you may feel anxious, hopeless, and empty. However, this verse urges you to leave all your worries to God. Submit to His will and be reminded God cares about you and loves you.
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We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. Thenations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining politicalindependence, butwe still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.Perhaps it iseasy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait." Butwhen you haveseen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters andbrothers at whim;when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers andsisters;when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in anairtight cageof poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twistedand yourspeech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go tothe publicamusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up inher eyes whenshe is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds ofinferiority beginningto form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality bydeveloping anunconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a fiveyear oldson who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when youtake across county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortablecorners of yourautomobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out bynagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," yourmiddlename becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wifeandmother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and hauntedby nightby the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowingwhat toexpect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are foreverfighting adegenerating sense of "nobodiness"--then you will understand why we find it difficult towait. Therecomes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to beplunged intothe abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidableimpatience.You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainlyalegitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court'sdecision of 1954outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem ratherparadoxical for usconsciously to break laws. One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws andobeyingothers?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. Iwould be the firstto advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obeyjust laws.Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St.Augustinethat "an unjust law is no law at all."
Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricablybound tothe status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the innerspiritualchurch, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. Butagain I amthankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have brokenloose fromthe paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle forfreedom. Theyhave left their secure congregations and walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us.They havegone down the highways of the South on tortuous rides for freedom. Yes, they have gone tojail withus. Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishopsand fellowministers. But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than eviltriumphant. Theirwitness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel inthese troubledtimes. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even ifthechurch does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have nofear about theoutcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood.We willreach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal ofAmerica isfreedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America'sdestiny. Beforethe pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched themajestic wordsof the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For morethan twocenturies our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; theybuilt thehomes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation -and yetout of abottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible crueltiesof slavery couldnot stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom becausethe sacredheritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that hastroubledme profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and"preventing violence." I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force ifyou hadseen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you wouldso quicklycommend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroesherein the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negrogirls; ifyou were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observethem, asthey did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our gracetogether. Icannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.
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