Influencers Of Good

Howard Thurman teaching a class.

Recently, in conversations with my grown children and research I have done for various writing and speaking engagements, I have been reminded of how important it is to be intentional about the influences that we allow to impact our lives. I am grateful that my grown children are protective of our grandchildren regarding the programing they watch on their tablets and televisions. I am impressed that the local “Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center” has a valuable resource on their website specifically designed for youth and their caregivers regarding learning about the sensitive issue of human trafficking. And I loved reading, while studying the life of Howard Thurman earlier last year, that Martin Luther King, Sr. entrusted his son, Martin Luther King, Jr., to his dear seminary friend from Morehouse, Howard Thurman, as a mentor. It mattered to his father that Martin Jr. have a strong, wise, and thoughtful guide during his graduate studies, and all of us are the better for the influence that Thurman had on a man half his age, with much on his shoulders.  

Thurman was the Dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University from 1953-1965, and King, who began his studies at Boston University in 1951, not only gained from the sermons that he heard Thurman preach, but from the mentorship that his father had arranged. Years earlier, in 1935, Thurman and his wife took a pivotal “Pilgrimage of Friendship” to India.  There he met with Mahatma Gandhi, whose philosophy and practice of “soul force” became deeply meaningful to Thurman, especially in demonstrating the effectiveness of nonviolent resistance.

Gandhi wondered aloud if “it may be through the Negroes that the unadulterated message of nonviolence will be delivered to the world.”

Thurman never forgot the hope that Gandhi expressed in the African-American freedom movement, and shared that hope years later with his mentee, Martin Luther King, Jr., who had become an important leader in the civil rights movement. 

Thurman was also an important mentor or influence in King’s life, when after King’s stabbing and near death at a book signing on September 20, 1958, in Upper Manhattan, he went to the hospital to pay a pastoral visit to the 29-year-old. Thurman who was a mystic and believed in the power of reflection, urged his protégé to take the opportunity to step out of life briefly, for at least a period of two weeks, “to rest his body and mind with healing detachment.” King took Thurman’s advice and in ways was better prepared for what would be required of him in teaching and living nonviolent protest, having practiced the discipline in these extra days of recovery.  

I am reminded of a letter that King received in these days immediately following the stabbing with a letter opener that had to be surgically removed from its placement perilously close to his aorta. It was a letter purportedly from a young girl who was a student at a New York High School. It said simply,

"Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School." She continued, "While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I am a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I'm simply writing you to say that I'm so happy that you didn't sneeze." 

By taking the time to restore his soul as Thurman suggested, King was able to read the 1,800 letters that came his way in those brief weeks of rest, and absorb the remarkable expression of respect and common humanity that this ninth grader grasped. It inspired him and readied him for the continued struggle he faced.  

Perhaps the most significant way in which Thurman influenced the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. was in the wisdom Thurman shared.

Thurman was a prolific writer and preacher. It would be difficult to say which of the many sermons, reflections, meditations, essays and prose poems Thurman composed that would have been among King’s favorites – save his most beloved book by his mentor, Jesus and the Disinherited. 

It is a book that Thurman published in 1949 about how the gospel may be read as a manual of resistance for the poor and disenfranchised. It was the one book, beyond the Bible, that King always carried on his person. Drawing from Thurman’s writings, King understood Jesus to be a friend and ally of the disposed, including his Jewish disciples in Palestine long ago and African- Americans under slavery and segregation. 

While people have been influencing one another as long as we have lived in community, the term “influencer” has taken on new meaning since the advent of social media. The second definition in the Oxford Dictionary for the word influencer is: “a person who has become well known through regular social media posts and is able to promote a product or service by recommending or using it online." Maintaining transparency and accountability to consumers is critical in this new approach to marketing and can be complicated by AI- generated influencers. Ethical parameters in this growing field are crucial and, just as we are particular about the people, messages, and opinions that might influence us in more traditional ways,

we need to be cautious about the influencers we may encounter through social media who are shaping not only our buying patterns but how we think and do certain things. For we want to seek out the wisest and best to influence our lives in all areas. 

As you think about those who have been influential in your own life, I hope you will consider the ways in which Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has influenced your deeper understanding of our common humanity, and the ways in which our faith and courage can impact the common good.

As we celebrate his birthday as a nation this weekend, I hope you will find a MLK, Jr quote that speaks to your soul and your better self.  

• Among other celebratory events this weekend, you might wish to participate in the “MLK, Jr Blues Festival” being held on Saturday, January 17, at the Bradfordville Blues Club, 7152 Moses Ln, Tallahassee, FL 32309 from 1:00 to 11:00 PM.

• On Monday, January 19, at noon, the annual downtown MLK parade will be moving south on Monroe Street between Tennessee Street and Apalachee Parkway. Immediately following the parade there will be festivities for public interaction along Adams Street, and the annual “Day of Dialogue” at City Hall, 300 S Adams Street, in the City Hall Commission Chambers will commence at 2 PM. This venue will provide an opportunity for public discussion and reflection on the influence that Martin Luther King, Jr. has had on our lives and our country. 

This year, the MLK, Jr quote that seems most relevant to me is this: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” May light and love be the influences in our own lives as we seek to be influencers for good.  

Rev. Candace McKibben