"I am convinced that the universe is under the control of a loving purpose, and that in the struggle for righteousness man has cosmic companionship." - the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. as quoted in this Frontispiece
The Companion collection, first published in 1993, gathered from the books, essays and speeches of the Reverend Doctor King by his wife, Coretta Scott King, with the assistance of Joe Kirchberger, and wonderfully published in hardcover with thick, matte, rough edged paper by the great St, Martin's Press stands us good stead and firm companion upon the rocky path ahead which we must yet walk.
Among this collection's sources stand straight the 1957 strengthening volume STRIDE TOWARD FREEDOM, the 1963 Civil Rights Manifesto Why We Can't Wait (Signet Classics) (including several passages from his cornerstone Letter From A Birmingham Jail), the late 1967 commissioning Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? and the 1967 The Trumpet of Conscience: The Summing-Up of His Creed, and His Final Testament. This collection adds selections from his consoling and enlivening Strength to Love, his discourse upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, and his speech Beyond Vietnam, and so this gets enables you to take up your weary mat and walk, strongly, towards freedom, peace and nonviolent love with all humanity.
All Jesus' words and teachings and life are often summed up by three: "Love thy enemy!" Dr. King wrote and said so much more than "I have a dream" or "Free at last!" or "I have been to the mountaintop." In fact his son Dexter alludes in his introduction to this book to over "200,000 documents in his lifetime" written by Dr. King.
Dexter Scott King, in one paragraph of his rich introduction, calls this "a book about my father's words, but more significantly, it's a blueprint for social change. I feel that this portable companion can be read wholly on its own, but also as a source book that illuminates the passages of Dr. King's greatest works. This is a book that is just as meaningful, perhaps more relevant today, than it was twenty-five years ago, when my father died (p. xi)."
As our nation now turns a corner in our long journey, this book serves as well as a light unto our feet and a guide for our future, and grows even more relevant now, sixteen years after its first publication, and over forty years after the publication of its source material. We have much to see here now, to help us on our way, in our progress towards peaceful cooperation and our ultimate survival. Read this book well.
This book, therefore, is divided in to six Parts, each carrying several themes, or issues. The Parts are Heritage, The Movement, Institutions which includes the subsection on the US Presidency, citing among others this passage: "We were all involved in the death of John Kennedy. We tolerated hate; we tolerated the sick stimulation of violence in all walks of life, and we tolerated the differential application of law, which said that a man's life was sacred only if we agreed with his views (p. 28)." The Parts continue with Philosophies, Issues and Reflections, each with their own generous subsections.
In the section on War we find this: "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death (p. 83)." Hear these words now; where are we now? Where are we going to? And again: "There may have been a time when war served as a negative good by preventing the spread and growth of an evil force, but the destructive power of modern weapons eliminates even the possibility that war may serve as a negative good (p. 82)." These are words for us now, today, as we look at our ruins and trillion dollar deficits, now. Where will we go?
Read this book, a strong companion for the path we have ahead.
