MLK takeaway: pain/hopelessness makes one irrational

MLK was a prophet whose last pain was being shot on a hotel balcony after announcing he had been to the mountaintop and feared no man.

Opinion 
“When we walk away from pain, we have made a choice to leave people in it... when faced with excruciating pain, can we choose courage over our own comfort; accountability over rationalizing the way we dehumanize people?”  — Dr. Brene Brown

On this national holiday celebration of the 91st birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I began the afternoon feeling a little helpless, knowing that in all areas of human activity, poor people are at the bottom of the pack, fighting against powers and principalities, politicians, and even gun totting religious folks.

But the one thing that I found intriguing that I learned today is the idea that powerful pain and hopelessness can chip away at our own humanity and destroy a godly plan.

I realize that I don’t think rationally when I am pained. No one can, even the best of heroes. But we are bid to be courageous while pained.

MLK was pained while in a Birmingham jail, but while there he wrote a memorable letter which was played out by youth at his 2020 Commemorative event at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Hurting people should be relegated to being healed instead of fighting for cures, even though they should be involved in making decisions on their treatment. It’s like a person with leukemia being asked to cure themselves when the doctors have been trained and supposedly know how to usher in a treatment plan. And they are the ones being paid well to be a healthcare professional even though they offer no guarantees. They should drive the bus towards positive change - the expert healers.

Pain creates fear, but it also can push you towards a cure. Often, the cure results in death.

My stepfather, Mr. Lionel Lorenzo Crump, Sr. always used to say, “Nothing beats a try but a failure.” 

Why do young men resist arrest and run from SWAT officers with warrants? Because they know they can’t fight multi- armed attackers. Felons try to flee because their only other options are to spend their lives in jail or on a prison gurney with poison pumped into their veins; of being sexually abused for years. Of paying their debt to society but not being able to provide for their family when released because companies don’t hire ex-criminals. 

Pain keeps people living in tents and homeless shelters, in cars and cardboard boxes. 

Most of these poor unfortunate souls have pain from childhood mistreatment, poor education and diets, non-existent bank accounts, no owned real estate, bad credit scores, neglect, poisoned peeling paint and tainted drinking water. They have painful memories. They hurt and sometimes try to kill the pain with opioids or zone out watching porn movies.

While many may think what Jesus and MLK did was illogical, fighting governments and principalities, they both are considered great prophets.

Pain. Deadly Pain.

Pain in body and soul.

When will we be cured???

I cannot be a civil rights activist like MLK, or his daughter, or John Lewis, but I can express what is good and right in my own life. I should not mistreat others. I can be sympathetic to the plight of others. I can demand that I and others be treated with love and respect. I can tell the truth. I can try to love somebody. I should try to help those who need the most constructive help. 

I should follow the teachings of Jesus as a Christian ought and respect other religions which try to uplift humanity.

I can’t save the world, but I can join hands with people with like minds and hearts to make living better before I go to my grave.

Free from pain and suffering.

That’s my story; that is my song.


Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2EMuoM5IX4