Thrive, like a King

On this day (in the USA), we honor the life and legacy of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. - a great inspiration to countless millions of conscious, compassionate souls around the world.

I thought I'd share the following passage from the speech he delivered in Oslo, Norway just over 60 years ago, on December 11th, 1964. He was accepting the Nobel Peace Prize.

This passage seems particularly poignant in this moment, when technology - Artificial Intelligence in particular - is accelerating at a pace that is close to being (if not already) out of human control.

I invite you to take a few truly mindful minutes to read and contemplate King's words that follow...

"Modern man has brought this whole world to an awe-inspiring threshold of the future.

He has reached new and astonishing peaks of scientific success.

He has produced machines that think and instruments that peer into the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space.

He has built gigantic bridges to span the seas and gargantuan buildings to kiss the skies.

His airplanes and spaceships have dwarfed distance, placed time in chains, and carved highways through the stratosphere.

This is a dazzling picture of modern man’s scientific and technological progress.

Yet, in spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing.

There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance.

The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually.

We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.

Every man lives in two realms, the internal and the external.

The internal is that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion.

The external is that complex of devices, techniques, mechanisms, and instrumentalities by means of which we live.

Our problem today is that we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external.

We have allowed the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live.

So much of modern life can be summarized in that arresting dictum of the poet Thoreau: “Improved means to an unimproved end.”

This is the serious predicament, the deep and haunting problem confronting modern man.

If we are to survive today, our moral and spiritual “lag” must be eliminated.

Enlarged material powers spell enlarged peril if there is not proportionate growth of the soul.

When the “without” of man’s nature subjugates the 'within,' dark storm clouds begin to form in the world."

King's words ring powerfully, painfully prescient, given that today is also the inaugural day of a man who wants to be a king, a dictator, yet whose narcissistic character is a world away from that of the diversity-and-democracy-loving Dr. King.

It seems a cruel irony that this particular inaugural day would happen on the day we honor a man - Martin Luther King, Jr. - who gave his life in pursuit of the real American dream - liberty and justice for ALL.

And while I feel this irony as if sucker-punched in the gut, I know that many people of color, many immigrants of every color, will feel this irony in far more painful and frightening ways in the days, months, years to come.

Yet, we can all choose to hold this moment as one of empowering possibility and commitment to transformative change, as we stand strong for all of our brothers and sisters.

We can commit to return (and keep returning) our primary focus and nurturance to the internal, assuring that our spirit thrives - amidst the increasingly powerful, addictive external drives... that constantly lure us into "unimproved ends".

May we untiringly continue the life-loving work of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.?

May he rest in peace - knowing that, in each of us, his light burns bright.

Me we awaken to - and build - the dream, together.