“But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men.”
from “Facing the Challenge of a New Age,” 1956
My Dream of reconciliation really didn’t start in me. It was planted when I was a young man trying to find a way to curtail the violence that was swelling in my soul. It was Dr. King and the witness of many during the Civil Rights movement and their insistence to love that captured my heart.
I had many reasons to hate, but it was love that drew me, and it is love that challenges all of us to live beyond ourselves and to think of ourselves as part of God’s beloved community. It is a community where evil, hate, injustice, and violence take a back seat to common good.
We have been given by God the capacity to love, and that is the most powerful tool we have as human beings.
It is love, not hate, that pushes us beyond our problems to creative solutions.
It is love that moves us to give beyond ourselves to save our sister in the grip of poverty.
It is love that challenges the greed of the day and announces generosity as a choice.
Finally, it is love that causes us to live with sisters and brothers who have different skin, wealth, and nationality. It is love that creates a community of multiethnicity. There is no other force available to us that can produce such beauty.
Mission Year strives to love because we believe this is the path towards reconciliation. Love of God and love of neighbor is the passageway to peace and Beloved Community.
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Join the 15 Campaign and support the reconciling work of Mission Year. See more in our 15 Dreams series.
