As noted in the previous blog entry, Anita* told me that Martin Luther King Jr. had something he wanted out on the blog. Auntie** was at his side cheering him on. I was a little slow on the uptake, as is not unusual for me, but better late than never.
"Only when a relationship is mutual,
between parties both willing and eager to relate,
do we have something worthwhile."
Ann: Dr. King, I understand from Anita (and Auntie) that you have something for the blog.
Martin Luther King Jr.: Indeed I do, Ann. I gather you have been taken to task by Auntie. Be sure you are not the first one who has felt the sharp side of her tongue.
Ann: You, too?
MLKJr: Oh yes, and more than once. Sometimes in my darkest hours she would come by and give me some “Jumpin’ Juice” as she liked to say. Worked every time.
Ann: Well, I can testify to that - as my presence here would indicate.
MLKJr: You would have come anyway and maybe quicker if you didn’t feel shoved. I can relate to that, Ann, and that in some part is what I wanted to talk to you and your readers about.
We cannot be forced into a relationship with God because force is not part of any kind of relationship. Just as between humans, if there are constrictions on one side and not the other, there is no relationship but instead just a contract of adhesion as you lawyers would say. Such contracts are between unequal parties and have no place in God’s kingdom. In relationship, we reach for Christ, and he reaches back. He may be seen as Buddha or the Great Spirit. He may be the wind in the trees or the breeze off the ocean. He may be only the whisper of an angel’s wings in the darkness that lets you know you are not alone, but he asks, he does not demand.
Only when a relationship is mutual, between parties both willing and eager to relate, do we have something worthwhile. This is what you have today between those of you committed to a life of service in the name of Christ in whatever form he comes to you. Christ asked and you answered. And Christ comes in many forms, not just the limited figure that the church has espoused. The Christ figure is universal, reaching out his hand to every single soul that struggles to reach the light, be they of Christian faith or otherwise.
These days picking sides seems not only to be the order of the day but a requirement of being on the planet. I ask you today, my children, to resist that temptation. For that is what it is, just like the temptation of Christ in the desert when the Devil asked him to prove his powers and claim his kingship so that all would bow down before him. But when people bow down before you. there is no relationship, there is only power one over the other. This is not what Christ is about nor what our Father has asked of us. His Son came to be a shepherd to his people not a king, so how can we ask less of ourselves?
Please, children, do not give your allegiance to any king. Do not allow others to bow down before you or your convictions whether they be religious, political, or cultural unless you have offered the same in return. Each child of God is worthy of respect. The holy center in each human being cannot be destroyed by faithless actions so, if you must go against someone, hold them in your heart as an equal, for you could have been the one blind and deaf to the calls of the Savior.
We have all fallen in one way or another and will continue to do so. This knowledge is the foundation of all compassion and wisdom. Hold this in your heart no matter what temptation arises to declare your cause the righteous and only one.
December 11, 2019.
*Anita Sacco (See "Recommended Channelers" under "Resources" tab above)
**Harriet Tubman