By Kerry Koerselman, M.A.

World peace through nonviolent means is neither absurd nor unattainable. All other methods have failed. Thus we must begin anew. Nonviolence is a good starting point. Those of us who believe in this method can be voices of reason, sanity, and understanding amid the voices of violence, hatred, and emotion. We can very well set a mood of peace out of which a system of peace can be built.

—Martin Luther King Jr.

Every year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I light a candle with my family, and we honor him.  I look through his writings and speeches and talk to my family about something he wrote or said.  This year the process was more poignant than usual for me with all that has gone on.  King’s emphasis on nonviolence and peace felt more important than ever.  I will talk with my family this year about being “voices of reason, sanity, and understanding” even when they are “amid voices of violence, hatred and emotion”.  

We will talk a bit about Ghandi, who Martin Luther King, Jr. studied to learn about nonviolent protests. Ghandi’s protests contributed to freeing the country of India from British rule in 1947.  

Gandhi called nonviolent protests "satyagraha" which means 'truth force' or ‘love force’.  In this doctrine the aim of any non-violent conflict was to convert the opponent; to win over their mind and heart and convince them of your point of view.  Ghandhi stated that satyagraha was not a weapon of the weak - "Satyagraha is a weapon of the strong; it admits of no violence under any circumstance whatever; and it always insists upon truth." 

King first learned of Gandhi’s concept of nonviolence as a seminary student. As a Christian, he connected the Hindu thinker’s words to the Biblical appeal of Jesus to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

I will remind my family this MLK day that though the extreme voices are the loudest, there are many people like them who are working here and now for “reason, sanity and understanding”.  “Thus we must begin anew” this 2021 and set a mood of peace.