What do Martin Luther King Jr., Brené Brown and Jesus Christ all have in common?!

I woke up this morning (afternoon really), on my day off (thank you MLK Jr. ????) and turned on the Netflix original “Brené Brown: The Call to Courage” which my friend recommended to me over dinner last night. And boy am I glad I did! Brené Brown says “Vulnerability is basically uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. [It] is the birthplace of connection and the path to the feeling of worthiness. If it doesn’t feel vulnerable, the sharing is probably not constructive.” 

Wow! While being a huge Brené fan, I can’t help but think not seeing this video before today is no coincidence. Who embraced vulnerability if not Dr. King? Can you imagine what non violent protesting in his time of racism, violence and hate must have been like?Think about it: Since we were kids, we’ve been taught to always protect ourselves at all costs. King understood that while people can disagree, hate and even try to hurt you, they cannot stop your ability to be vulnerable about what you truly believe in and care about; It is this inner truth and desire from where true power and authority arise. This power transcends self protection. It is an expression of our deepest inner wisdom.

But let’s not get it twisted, vulnerability is not easy, it is a brave choice! King said “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear. We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” He understood how much being vulnerable hurts. How unnatural it can feel. While he dealt with failure after failure, he understood that vulnerability took true courage. Unfortunately, as Brené talks about in the Netflix documentary, most of us associate being vulnerable with being weak or emotional, never realizing the potential that vulnerability has to ignite change and therefore holding back.

When we better understand true vulnerability then, it is clear why so many were fearless in following Dr. King in his fight for justice and freedom. His vulnerability stemmed from his compassion for his brothers and sisters. His strength came from his relentless faith. MLK chose love over hate and in this way he was able to connect with those around him. Who exemplified love if not Jesus? Jesus teaches us to “turn the other cheek.” While this does not mean that we should accept hate, abuse or injustice, it asks us to trust God and allow Him to take our courageous vulnerability and to turn our pain into something greater, that which we are usually after: strength, change, glory, or oftentimes, all of the above. 

As I searched for quotes by MLK on vulnerability, famous quotes by Brené and Jesus kept coming up as recommendations instead. Is it safe to say that the transformative power of vulnerability has existed throughout all times in history? Don't life's toughest challenges invite the opportunity to be vulnerable and experience real growth and change? And what does all of this mean for us today, in a world endlessly connected online and especially on social media? Are we really connecting with one another, or has this false and superficial sense of interconnectivity forced us to miss the real point and message of vulnerability? Could this be leading to a lot of the unhappiness we are experiencing in the world today?