As America pauses on this, MLK's birthday to reflect on the man and his message, I share a quote from William Sloane Coffin (Credo):

"It was Martin's message that it is not enough to suffer with the poor; we must confront the people and systems that cause poverty. It was Martin's message that you cannot set the captive free if you are not willing to confront those who hold the keys. Without confrontation, compassion becomes merely commiseration, fruitless and sentimental.

Likewise, King understood the difference between defiance and freedom. Confrontation to him did not mean the ruin and humiliation of opponents. Nonviolence to him represented an effort to give visibility not to our own poor powers but to God's everlasting love. 'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the glory.' Nonviolence represented a chance for all parties to rise above their present condition.

Measured by feet, it was a short distance from King's pulpit to the streets of Montgomery. Measured spiritually, it was a long journey. But he took it, in the name of him who 'in those days...came from Nazareth to Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.'"