The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
...
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:1, 9-12, New International Version)
The Christian preacher we honor this week, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., reminded us that "darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction – the chain reaction of evil ... must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." (Strength to Love, 1963)
Jesus himself refused to return violence with violence, and so was executed by human authorities. He gave his own life in witness to the perspective that turning the other cheek has "power to transform conflict into mutual understanding, to transform injustice into justice," to transform darkness into light.
(Inspiration for this blog, as well as the final quote, comes from Dr. Margaret Benefiel, author of Executive Soul Newsletter. For more information, click here.)
