On this historic day before the Inauguration, some reflections from Dr. King and Abraham Joshua Heschel, the rabbi who marched with King, and whose yahrzeit fell this past Friday:
"...BUT WE ALWAYS KNEW THAT HOPE IS NOT BLIND OPTIMISM. IT'S NOT IGNORING THE ENORMITY OF THE TASK AHEAD OR THE ROADBLOCKS THAT STAND IN OUR PATH. IT'S NOT SITTING ON THE SIDELINES OR SHIRKING FROM A FIGHT. HOPE IS THE THING INSIDE US THAT INSISTS, DESPITE ALL THE EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY, THAT SOMETHING BETTER AWAITS US IF WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO REACH FOR IT, AND TO WORK FOR IT, AND TO FIGHT FOR IT."
- Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream" speech
"What is the meaning of integration? To integrate means to unite, to form a whole. Integration means (unity), mutual respect and concern. True unity is not attained by going to the race track together. True unity is not attained by the reverence we share, by the commitments we cherish, by going through moments of insight together, It will not be attained by riding on the same bus, by the mere placing of children together in the same room. It will be attained by sharing moments of joy, cultural values, insights, commitments."
- Abraham Joshua Heschel, Feb. 25, 1964
"Now let us begin. Let us re-dedicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? Or will there be another message, of longing, of hope, of solidarity, with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise, we must choose in this crucial moment of human history."
- Martin Luther King Jr. "The Strength to Love"
"Faith comes over us like a force urging us for action.... It's power is revealed when man is able to exercise defiance in the face of adversity.
We cannot stem the tempest of evil by taking refuge in temples, by fervently adoring the restrained omnipotence of God. Our task is not only to enjoy; to change, not only to accept; to augment, not only to discover the glory of God. And life is refulgent with possibilities of creating the good."
- Abraham Joshua Heschel, "To Be a Jew: What Is It?"
"Faith is taking the first step when you don't see the whole staircase."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"To be is to stand for."
- Abraham Joshua Heschel
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