Listening

In a world and time that seem beyond understanding, I want to listen and learn from those I most admire.

When I am most uncertain whether to speak, or what to say, I hear the echoes of Dietrich Bonhoeffer soon to be hung in a Nazi camp. I am reminded not to be silent too often, too long.

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

And when I feel unable to speak wisely or with courage, when I cry for words but am mute, I take comfort in these words from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows.”

I pray that I will dare to break the silence that is itself evil. May I look up and see that the gigantic mountains of evil will tremble and fall.