The King Holiday Is Upon Us: If You Know, You Know

Twenty-four years out of graduate school,

I rethink what I learned.* If you know,

you know. I am Catholic now, nine years

at Easter but wish I’d converted sooner,

claimed my adulthood . I repent of this

now; if you know, you know. I thank God

for the Sacraments, the beauty of Truth—

the cleansing power of Confession, the altar

upon which Jesus hides in the form of

bread and wine—the altar from which Spirit

sends us forth, if we listen. If you know,

you know. The King Holiday reminds us

to love one another in peace. Many acts

are performed for Love. If you know, you know.

Salvation goes out to others in food and clothing.

Perhaps shelter. If you know, you know.

But not everyone accepts Love as invitation—

as an invitation to know Jesus. If you know,

you know. King showed us how redemptive

love, sometimes suffering, is offered by

imperfect people. He was a preacher and

a sinner. If you know, you know. Honestly,

do you know anyone who isn’t a sinner? But

not everyone who seeks equality turns life

toward the Crucifix. If you know, you know.

That’s the tricky part about free will. No one

has to love Jesus. I bet everyone knows that.

King, proclaimed from the pulpit how he was

a “sexual sinner;” if you know, you know.

Yet he taught us about dignity and human

worth. Only Saints in Heaven surrender

everything all the time. But Spirit makes many

try. If you know, you know. Tired and

perhaps depressed, King was a mystic with

a Christ-complex. But he lived on earth

until the bullet struck. No if about that!

* I wrote my master’s thesis, Making All Things New: The Redemptive Value of Unmerited Suffering in the Life and Works of Martin Luther King, Jr. at Wake Forest University, 2000.