A Strange Freedom

by Thurman, Howard; Fluker, Walter Earl; Tumber, Catherine; Marty, Martin E.

• ISBN13: 9780807010563
• ISBN10: 0807010561
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-08-01
• Publisher: Beacon Pr

Summary

Spiritual advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr., the first black dean of Boston University's Daniel Marsh Chapel, and cofounder of the first multiracial, interdenominational church in the nation, Howard Thurman was a remarkable and inspirational man. His career spanned more than half a century before his death in 1981, and the relevance of his message remains undiminished. This collection features important, previously unpublished work. Through selections that include a remarkable tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., and powerful reflections on the nature of democracy, authority, and reconciliation, we gain an understanding of how our experience of God dictates our responsibilities to one another and determines the strength of our communities. Thurman wrote, "Ultimately there is only one place of refuge on this planet for any man -- that is in another man's heart". His call that we each live our life as "an act of faith towards our fellowmen" remains one of profound importance.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi	(4)
Martin E. Marty
Editorial Policy Statement	xv
Introduction	1	(18)
Catherine Tumber
Walter Earl Fluker
Section I: Finding God in Private Life	19	(78)
Meditation: The Idol of Togetherness	21	(76)
Barren or Fruitful? (1932)	23	(7)
What Shall I Do With My Life? (1939)	30	(5)
Suffering (1963)	35	(20)
The Negro Spiritual Speaks of Life and Death (1947)	55	(25)
Prayer (1963)	80	(17)
Section II: Religious Experience and Ethical Life	97	(92)
Meditation: Freedom Is a Discipline	99	(90)
Concerning the Search (1971)	101	(7)
Excerpt from "Mysticism and Social Change" (1939)	108	(16)
Religion in a Time of Crisis (1943)	124	(7)
Jesus -- An Interpretation (1949)	131	(17)
Deception (1949)	148	(12)
Leadership (1960)	160	(3)
Reconciliation (1963)	163	(22)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1968)	185	(4)
Section III: "Community and the Will of God"	189	(106)
Meditation: Friends Whom I Knew Not	191	(104)
The Task of the negro Ministry (1928)	193	(7)
What We May Learn from India (1936)	200	(11)
The Will to Segregation (1943)	211	(9)
The Fellowship Church of all Peoples (1945)	220	(5)
The Commitment (1943; 1945)	225	(2)
The Responsibility of the Professional Person to Society (1957)	227	(6)
The Public and Private Results of Collegiate Education in the Life of Negro Americans (1967)	233	(7)
Excerpt from the Luminous Darkness (1965)	240	(19)
Whitney Young: What Can I Do? (1971)	259	(6)
America in Search of a Soul (1976)	265	(8)
The Search in identity (1971)	273	(22)
Section IV: Meditations for "Apostles of Sensitiveness"	295	(18)
Saddle Your Dreams	297	(1)
The Narrow Ridge	298	(1)
Contradictions Not Final	299	(1)
Keep Open the Door of Thy Heart	300	(1)
On Viewing the Coast of Africa	301	(1)
Meaning Is Inherent in Life	302	(1)
The Horns of the Wild Oxen	303	(1)
Keep Alive the Dream in the Heart	304	(1)
The Growing Edge	305	(1)
How Good to Center Down	305	(1)
Let Us Remember the Children	306	(1)
A Prayer for Peace	307	(1)
I Will Not Give Up	308	(1)
Give Me the Listening Ear	309	(1)
The Kingdom of Values	310	(3)
Notes	313	(18)
Acknowledgments	331	(2)
Index	333