E. Stanley Jones and Martin Luther King, Jr., Part 2

Anne Mathews-Younes, the grand-daughter of E. Stanley Jones related to me the story of when her mother, Eunice Jones Mathews (the daughter of E. Stanley) visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center in Atlanta, Georgia. A copy of Jones' book, Gandhi: Portrayal of a Friends (Abingdon, 1948) was in the MLK,Jr. Library. In King's personal copy of the book are these lines handwritten in the margin:  "This is it! This is the way to achieve freedom for the Negro in America." 

There is no question that Martin Luther King, Jr. was influenced by the writings of E. Stanley Jones and his unabashed pursuit of peace through non-violent means. During this weekend, let us remember the values that King and Gandhi stood for in their leadership. There is an invitation here for all of us to embrace diversity, love of our neighbor regardless of race, class, sexual orientation or religion and an invitation to be in conversation with our neighbors about the issues of the day.