MLK Day and 4 Quartets

A day late but oh well. We had the day off anyway!

There's a passage during The Dry Salvages section 2 which in some fascinating yet haunting way seems to apply to Martin Luther King Jr. and his presence in the American civil rights movement. Starting at line 200,

But to apprehend
The point of intersection of the timeless
With time, is an occupation for the saint-
No occupation either, but something given
And taken, in a lifetime's death in love,
Ardour and selflessness and self-surrender.

I think this passage speaks about the change which happens when something important and finite changes into another form which is less finite, if not infinite. "Occupation", used twice, infers that this important form is a vocation of sorts. This isn't the sort of job that someone applies for and actively pursues. No, this is a job that someone was already doing and then discovered at a later date that a timeless quality would ultimately be thrust upon their work achievements. The great passion and self sacrifice (defined in part by that timeless quality) necessary I see as a view imposed upon the person by popular acclaim and even selective memory.

One example would be Babe Ruth. The longer ago he played, the better he was when he played. It's a genuinely weird phenomena attested to by Baseball fans. Was Babe Ruth really all that great? Or was America screaming out for a hero through the medium of it's then favorite sport baseball? This is the argument about man vs. history. Which one makes the other? In answer, I quote my favorite tv show of all time. "History makes men, men don't make history."

Obviously MLK was a fantastic leader for the civil rights movement. That's indisputable. I'm simply of the opinion that we point to him in our attempt to understand the events of the time which were even larger than he was. That's how history makes men. The end of the passage I quoted above makes implications of a religious nature involving sacrifice. My opinion hold true for that as well but that's another blog post.


Check out this video of MLK's last speech before he was assassinated. It's kind of crazy in a prophetic sort of way.