The 20th January is marked as "Martin Luther King Day". In recent years, I have annually reflected upon Dr. King's legacy and the moral diseases that plague humanity in this century.
Yesterday, my wife and I went to the cinema to watch "12 Years A Slave", a film based on the true story of Solomon Northup. And at the end, you're left to wonder about the many sick & twisted fates of millions of slaves all around the world. Just like my wife pointed out: slavery continues in the form of human trafficking. We have just 'updated' the name. Especially women (of all ages) are abducted, given different identities and sold into the most horrible trade of all: the sex trade.
People (especially children) are still forced to work. Women (AND men) are forced to take part in hideous & grotesque sexual acts, be it as prostitutes, slaves or in front of the cameras of perverted film-makers.
The first month of 2014 has almost passed, and the media has reported two rape cases in India. Mainly because the victims were foreigners. Yet, statistics say that a woman is raped in India every 20 minutes. The majority of these acts remain silent out of fear. Not even a whisper of dignity is left. Not even a cry to say: Stop! No more of this!
Hope is the mountain standing strong, without having to worry that it will send an avalanche down to bury us all. Faith is moving that same mountain and allowing the avalanche to bury our enemy. In whatever situaton we might find ourselves in, we can never forget who the real enemy is. He is the valley of despair, the great sea luring us into its crushing waves of deceit. He is the one who promises you false riches in return for your loyalty. Like a piglet sucking an empty teat, believing that our faith in the enemy will be rewarded.
When you think about it, we are all enslaved by the thoughts in our heads. The every day struggle to find the motivation to make this day count...to not waste away any of the precious time we've been given on earth. We firmly believe that we were called into this world to make a difference. And the difference can be made, simply by working on our mindset...by engaging in a war that is deeply personal: the war within our moral & spiritual universe.
We have an inclination for which side to choose. But the line separating our ally from our foe is often blurred. We get caught up on the playground of life, distracted by all the artificial joy. We know it's just as much fun to be climbing up the tree, but the swings and the slides are flashy, colourful, and look so much better.
Personally, I feel far removed from the war on slavery in today's world. It is one of the biggest and darkest industries in our age. But Martin Luther King called us to 'live the dream' he described and I believe by that he meant to free ourselves from our own shackles of mental slavery. To rid our hearts from the racist bias...and the guilt we may feel. To confront the darkness we harbour and give shelter to in our souls.
Racism, and the superiority of one people over another, is a seed in everyone's historicity. Now we can decide to nurture that rotten plant, or ignore it entirely. The 20th century prophets addressed the freedom of the individual and the revolution of the collective. In the 21st century, I would appeal to the freedom of the collective and the revolution of the individual. Simply because, when we come together as a collective, we must be a group that embraces versatility and, like a cavalry carrying a multitude of arms, charge against the evil of this world. Like a rainbow, every colour is necessary for nature's beautiful spectacle.
Racism is not a ghost from the past. It is an entity that lives on in all of us. And we cannot leave a single window open for it to enter into our house. In case that it does slip through underneath a door, we must be prepared to ring a bell - loudly - and declare the words "Let freedom ring", for racism cannot survive in a place of true & real freedom. And that is our task in this century: to bring about this 'true' freedom for all mankind. No matter the cost. This world already paid too much of a price for evil to still roam our homes in 2014.
Here a great song by Nina Simone dedicated to Martin Luther King:
Yesterday, my wife and I went to the cinema to watch "12 Years A Slave", a film based on the true story of Solomon Northup. And at the end, you're left to wonder about the many sick & twisted fates of millions of slaves all around the world. Just like my wife pointed out: slavery continues in the form of human trafficking. We have just 'updated' the name. Especially women (of all ages) are abducted, given different identities and sold into the most horrible trade of all: the sex trade.
People (especially children) are still forced to work. Women (AND men) are forced to take part in hideous & grotesque sexual acts, be it as prostitutes, slaves or in front of the cameras of perverted film-makers.
The first month of 2014 has almost passed, and the media has reported two rape cases in India. Mainly because the victims were foreigners. Yet, statistics say that a woman is raped in India every 20 minutes. The majority of these acts remain silent out of fear. Not even a whisper of dignity is left. Not even a cry to say: Stop! No more of this!
Hope is the mountain standing strong, without having to worry that it will send an avalanche down to bury us all. Faith is moving that same mountain and allowing the avalanche to bury our enemy. In whatever situaton we might find ourselves in, we can never forget who the real enemy is. He is the valley of despair, the great sea luring us into its crushing waves of deceit. He is the one who promises you false riches in return for your loyalty. Like a piglet sucking an empty teat, believing that our faith in the enemy will be rewarded.
When you think about it, we are all enslaved by the thoughts in our heads. The every day struggle to find the motivation to make this day count...to not waste away any of the precious time we've been given on earth. We firmly believe that we were called into this world to make a difference. And the difference can be made, simply by working on our mindset...by engaging in a war that is deeply personal: the war within our moral & spiritual universe.
We have an inclination for which side to choose. But the line separating our ally from our foe is often blurred. We get caught up on the playground of life, distracted by all the artificial joy. We know it's just as much fun to be climbing up the tree, but the swings and the slides are flashy, colourful, and look so much better.
Personally, I feel far removed from the war on slavery in today's world. It is one of the biggest and darkest industries in our age. But Martin Luther King called us to 'live the dream' he described and I believe by that he meant to free ourselves from our own shackles of mental slavery. To rid our hearts from the racist bias...and the guilt we may feel. To confront the darkness we harbour and give shelter to in our souls.
Racism, and the superiority of one people over another, is a seed in everyone's historicity. Now we can decide to nurture that rotten plant, or ignore it entirely. The 20th century prophets addressed the freedom of the individual and the revolution of the collective. In the 21st century, I would appeal to the freedom of the collective and the revolution of the individual. Simply because, when we come together as a collective, we must be a group that embraces versatility and, like a cavalry carrying a multitude of arms, charge against the evil of this world. Like a rainbow, every colour is necessary for nature's beautiful spectacle.
Racism is not a ghost from the past. It is an entity that lives on in all of us. And we cannot leave a single window open for it to enter into our house. In case that it does slip through underneath a door, we must be prepared to ring a bell - loudly - and declare the words "Let freedom ring", for racism cannot survive in a place of true & real freedom. And that is our task in this century: to bring about this 'true' freedom for all mankind. No matter the cost. This world already paid too much of a price for evil to still roam our homes in 2014.
Here a great song by Nina Simone dedicated to Martin Luther King:
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