THE SPARK BEHIND THE FIRE

Today we are looking at one of the deepest thinkers of his time. Howard Thurman was born in 1899 and passed away in 1981. He was a scholar whose words inspired Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“He was a shy man who didn’t lead marches or give dramatic speeches. But Howard Thurman was a spiritual genius who transformed history. Thurman was a pastor, professor, and mystic whose groundbreaking book, “Jesus and the Disinherited,” was a condemnation of a form of Christianity which Thurman said was far too often “on the side of the strong and the powerful against the weak and oppressed.”

The book revolutionized the traditional portrait of Jesus and had a profound influence on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s faith and activism. Born in Florida during the “nadir” of race relations in post-Civil War America, Thurman graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he was a classmate of “Daddy King,” the father of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

His impact on the younger King would be profound. Thurman was the first African American pastor to travel to India and meet Mohandas Gandhi. And he was one of the first pastors to inspire King to merge Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance with the civil rights movement. Thurman’s concepts about nonviolence and Jesus are peppered through King’s writings.

Thurman, though, didn’t fit the image of a fiery, silver-tongued Black preacher. He punctuated his sermons with long silences and enigmatic phrases such as “the sound of the genuine.” Before “interfaith dialogue” became common, Thurman also worshiped with people of other faiths and warned about the dangers of religious fundamentalism.

Thurman’s life was proof that all sorts of people could become influential leaders in the civil rights movement.” By John Blake, CNN.

Today, we need older men and women who can become a spark of fire to our young adults and youth. We need people who can become mentors to those who are trying to become upright in all they do. We need people who can help the young thinking minds, and help to unlock their creativity. We are reminded in Proverbs 1:8-9, “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.”

The book of Proverbs is all about helping us to make right choices, to choose the way of God and not that of the deceiver. The father or the mother, speaking to their son, and daughter, not only warns them against wrong choices but encourages them to make the right ones. This is so important because the choices we make are literally matters of life and death.

The first three chapters of Proverbs illustrate this method of education. After having explained the purpose of the book: to know wisdom (Proverbs 1:2), and having laid down the motto of the book: the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7, compare Proverbs 9:10), the author moves back and forth from warning us against listening to foolishness, to urging us to respond to the call of heavenly wisdom from God, and god-fearing people.

Today let us encourage our youth and young adults to seek the best in life. This can only be done by first seeking God in all things. As it is said, “The more closely God's Word is searched, and the better understood, the more vividly will the student realize that there is, beyond, infinite wisdom, knowledge, and power...

If the youth will but learn of the heavenly Teacher, as did Daniel, they will know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom... Those who consecrate themselves to God, and who have the protection of His grace and the quickening influence of His Spirit, will manifest keener intellectual power than the mere worldling. They will be able to reach the highest, noblest exercise of every faculty. May God help us become the spark behind the fire in someone's life today. Have a great day. Blessings, Blessings, Blessings.

By GARDEN MINISTRY