Yesterday, I led a meditation for our spiritual center’s service based on something I had read from the Rev. William Barber. Rev. Barber is one of the spiritual leaders based in North Carolina, but actually serving the entire county. In addition to being a Pastor at Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, NC from 1993 to 2023, Rev. Barber is co-chair of Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival and the head of the political action committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). To my mind, he is one of the people following most closely in the footsteps of the giants of the 1960s civil rights movement such as Dr. King and John Lewis.

In a recent newsletter, Rev. Barber blasted what he called a dangerous lie. He said there is no such thing as “conservative Christianity” or “progressive or liberal Christianity.” He insisted instead that there is only Christianity.

He didn’t explain that, but it really made me think. I came up with this explanation. For me, I want my spirituality to be the foundation of my life. My belief about my spriritual principles is that they are eternal, unconditional, unceasing, never changing, unlimited, and divine. Most of all, to me the spirit is the ultimate truth. On top of that, I layer my human, secular, material life. That life is ever changing and evolving and filled with perceived limitations, likes and dislikes, and confusion and disagreement. Most human life, including politics, is a life of opinions.

So I believe Rev. Barber was saying we want our divine spiritual beliefs to infuse into our human lives, including our politics. But we should never allow that limited world to descend into our spiritual realm, because then it is limiting unconditional spiritual truth with personal or political opinion. True Christianity, or any religion or truly spiritual practice, should never be restricted by the political, personal, or limited opinions of secular life.

After all, Jesus did not say “Love thy Conservative (or Liberal) Neighbor as Thyself.” Nor did he say “Love thy Immigrant (or ICE Agent) Neighbor as Thyself.” Nor was it restricted by color, religion, sexual orientation, political party, etc. He said “Love thy Neighbor as Thyself.”

Jesus, like Christianity, was unconditional. Or as one of my T-shirts says in North Carolina-ese, “Y’all mean ALL.” I believe we are meant to love everyone on the spiritual level, no matter how much we might disagree with them or even dislike them on the secular level. Christianity or spirituality can not be restricted to one political party, one race, one nation, one any restricted human category.

Dr. King was totally in alignment with that belief. In fact, he went further, arguing for loving not just your neighbors, but especially your enemies. It’s too much to go into all that in this blog, but if you are interested, I recommend you read one of my favorites sermons of his entitled “Loving Your Enemies,” which he gave at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL on Nov. 17, 1957. You can read it at: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/loving-your-enemies-sermon-delivered-dexter-avenue-baptist-church. It is a valuable way to spend some of your Martin Luther King Day.

Let me be clear. Saying that we need to love unconditionally on the spiritual level does NOT mean that on the secular level that we don’t care or we say it doesn’t matter or we stay silent. On this human plane, I think it is our duty, but also our privilege, to speak out and advocate for our political and other opinions. I mean, this isn’t me, but millions of people get tremendous joy rooting for their sports team over others. And that’s great for them. I’m much more opinionated about the arts and literature and education.

But most specifically, I’m talking about our political differences right now. I feel like it is my moral responsibility to share the gifts I have to promote political policies that I think bring the greatest gifts to all the people in the world, but particularly those in the US. I will continue to speak out and protest and contact legislators and more when I believe our American Democracy is being assaulted and even World Peace is being threatened.

My point is that at the end of the day–win, lose, or draw–my responsibility is also to pray for love and peace for all: those I agree with, and those I don’t. But I am realizing that the more I do that, the more energy I have the next day to stand up and speak out in a more compassionate and less draining way. And that, to me, is the great gift I am getting this year from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who seemed to practice this so strongly and so regularly.

So loving all my neighbors, those I like and those I dislike, has been my focus this weekend. And the song that most inspired me around this follows. This recording was inspired by a specific sad event, but its truth applies to our current days. Plus it features my favorites–BROADWAY STARS!

I hope it supports you on this day as well as for the days to follow.