The Beloved Community

The Beloved Community.

What comes to mind and heart for you when you hear this term?

What would it feel like to be a part of such a community?

On Dr. King’s holiday, I wanted us to explore the Beloved Community. Not as a philosophical exercise but as an aspirational one. One that inspires us to greater service and our highest selves. One very much pertinent to this pandemic moment.

Dr. King saw The Beloved Community as something attainable by a critical mass working from the framework of nonviolence.

It is worth seeing what the vision of The Beloved Community looks like, taken from The King Center that carries on Dr. King’s work.

In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.(The King Center – www.thekingcenter.org)

"Dr. King", drawn by our 7-year old daughter Shandiin

Two Foundations for The Beloved Community: Agape and Nonviolence

At the core of the Beloved Community is agape love. Dr. King differentiated this from eros (romantic love) and philia (affection between friends). Agape, he described as “overflowing love which is purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless and creative…the love of God operating in the human heart.”

So different than the polarized world of the moment, agape implores us to recognize our connectedness and to love each other accordingly. Again the words of Dr. King

“[Agape] makes no distinction between a friend and enemy; it is directed toward both…Agape is love seeking to preserve and create community.”

The Beloved Community is also centered in the principles of non-violence. Conflict, when it arises, is dealt with in ways that lead to reconciliation as opposed to violence. From a speech in 1959 on Gandhi, Dr. King spoke

“The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community, so that when the battle’s over, a new relationship comes into being between the oppressed and the oppressor.” Read more about the 6 tenets of Dr. King’sphilosophy of nonviolence here.

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Reflecting on The Beloved Community this week of the MLK holiday, we should ask ourselves a very simple question: 

What can we do today, this week, this month, this year to get us closer to realizing The Beloved Community?