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Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
394-785.mp3
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
This is tape number ET 39 from the library of the Howard Thurman Educational Trust, Two
Meditations by Howard Thurman. This is side one, entitled "Active Membership in the Human
Race."
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, oh Lord,
my strength and my redeemer.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm reading from my book, Meditations of the Heart. "The telephone rang at 7:15 in the morning.
And on the other end was a lady whose voice seemed full of years, soft but strong. What she had
to say was profoundly stirring. I'm sorry to disturb you so early in the morning, but I wanted to
call you before you left the hotel for the day. About 10 years ago-- I'm now 69-- I decided to
examine my life to see what, if anything, I could do to put into practice my own convictions
about brotherhood. Why I decided this, and not suddenly, I need not say, but I did.
The first thing I discovered was that I knew almost nothing about other races in my own city,
particularly about Negroes. I went to the library and was given a small list of books and
magazines. I began to work. The things I learned. When it seemed to me that I had my hands on
enough facts, and I discovered you don't need too many facts, because they get in your way, I
plotted a course of action. Then I was stumped. What could I do, a 69-year-old lady? I had no
particular abilities, very little energy, and an extremely modest income. But I did like to talk with
people as I met them on the buses and in the stores.
I decided that I would spread the facts that I had and my own concern among all the people
whose lives were touched by mine in direct conversation. It took me some time to develop a
simple approach that would not be an intrusion or a discourtesy. But my years helped me. For
several years I've been doing this on the bus, riding into town each week, in a department store
where I've made my purchases for two decades, and various other places.
Occasionally, I run into a person in the street who stops to introduce himself and to remind me of
a previous meeting. One such person said, 'I guess you've forgotten me. But about four years
ago, I sat by you on a bus.' And I don't know how the question came up, but we talked about the
Negroes. And you started me thinking along lines that had never occurred to me. You even gave
me the name of a book which I noted and purchased. Since then I have been instrumental in
changing the whole personnel practice of our business on this question. And thanks to you.
Continuing, she said, 'I know that this is not very much. And I guess many people are doing
much more. But I thought I would tell you this, so that in your moments of discouragement, you
may remember what one simple old lady was doing to help in little ways to write big wrongs.
Goodbye and God bless you.' She did not give me her name, nor her address. She merely shared
her testimony and gave her witness. The idea that because I am weak or I am of limited
resources, even intellectual, or even emotional, or financial, or because I am not strategically
placed so that my words can carry the big weight. Because none of these things that I have
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described may not apply to me, I may decide that therefore there isn't anything that I can do to
express my confirmation of my membership in the human race and all men's membership in the
human race.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
It may be that I am unable to do as this lady did. But always within every human being's reach,
there is something that he or she can do to take a position on the side of the things for which you
stand and a position against the things against which you stand. Now it may be that the only
thing that you can do is to write a letter that will sustain the flagging or the lagging confidence of
some public servant, who expresses from within the context of his responsibility, a good
conscience on behalf of good community and the world. Or it may be that just a telephone call to
say a word of hope to someone who has been victimized by circumstances, over which he has
been unable to exercise any control, and you want to let him know that your membership in the
human race is an active membership.
Or it may be that you will discover that none of these things you are able to do, but you do have
influence with little children. And you can help the tender, unfolding imagination of a little child
to grow unhampered, and to be free, to relate to all kinds of people without regard to their
religious background, or their cultural background, or their ethnic background. But one thing is
true. Whether or not you are able to do anything concrete that will give you a sense of
participation in a collective destiny that increasingly involves all the human race, one thing is
always open to you. The things that you condemn in society, the attitudes of bigotry, or
narrowness, or prejudice, or however you say it, the attitudes that are against community, and
therefore, against life.
And if they are against life, they must of necessity be against the God of life. These negative
attitudes, against which you react, you must see to it-- and this is the thing that you can do
always-- you must to see to it that you do not encourage in yourself what you condemn in
society, that the response which you give in that little world, in which your will is as the will of
God, there you can, and you must, make what you hunger for real. So that in that area of your
control, the things that you long for and hope to see come to pass in the great, wide sweep of
mankind.
You encourage them. You nurture them. You give all of the support to them within yourself.
And if you do this, I am convinced that this becomes one more positive and creative element in
the environment that tends to strengthen the weak hand, that tends to give a push to the lagging
foot, that tends to give courage to someone who is in a position to make the crucial decision that
will make the radical difference in the well-beings of many people. It gives heart and hand to
such a person. Now if you do this, then you have the tremendous consolation that where you are,
you carried out your kind of and way of responsibility in the way that you would like to carry it
out if your power were absolute and your position transcendent."
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, oh Lord,
my rock and my redeemer.
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thurman.pitts.emory.edu
The preceding program was video-tape recorded.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[AUDIO OUT]
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
This is tape number ET 39 from the library of the Howard Thurman Educational Trust. This is
side two, entitled "The Big Dream, The Little Act."
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Let the words out of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, oh
Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And tomorrow is Declaration Day, and I'm reading as a background for our thought, this
meditation. "Two men faced each other in a prison cell. They belonged to different countries,
their roots watered by streams from different cultures. One was under sentence of death, which
sentence was scheduled to be executed within a few short hours. The other was a visitor and a
friend. This, even though months before they had been enemies in the great war. They bade each
other farewell for the last time.
The visitor was deeply troubled, but he could not find his way through the emotional haze in
which he was caught to give voice to what cried out for utterance. This is what he wanted to say
but could not find the words to say, 'We may not be able to stop and undo the hard, old wrongs
of the great world outside. But through you and me, no evil shall come either in the unknown
where you are going, or in this imperfect and haunted dimension of awareness through which I
move. Thus, between us, we shall cancel out all private and personal evil; thus, arrest private and
personal consequences to blind action and reaction; thus, prevent specifically the general
incomprehension, and misunderstanding, hatred, and revenge of our time from spreading
further." The end of the quotation.
The forces at work in the world, which seem to undermine the future and the fate of mankind,
seem so vast, impersonal, and unresponsive to the will and desire of any individual that it is easy
to abandon all hope for a sane and peaceful order of life for mankind. Nevertheless, it is urgent to
hold steadily in mind that the utter responsibility of the solitary individual to do with all his heart
and mind everything to arrest the development of the consequences of private and personal evil
resulting from the interaction of the impersonal forces that surround us, to cancel out between
you and another human being all personal and private evil, to put your life squarely on the side
of the good thing, because it is good, and for no other reason. This is to anticipate the Kingdom
of God at the level of your functioning.
At long last, a man must be deeply convinced that the contradictions of life which he encounters
are not final, that the radical tension between good and evil as he sees it and feels it does not
have the last word about the meaning of life and the nature of existence, that there is a spirit in
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man and in the world working always against the thing that destroys and cuts down. Thus, he
will live wisely and courageously his little life. And those who see the sunlight in his face will
drop their tools and follow him. There is no ultimate negation for the man for whom it is
categorical that the ultimate destiny of man on this planet is a good destiny.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Many years ago, as a matter of fact, at the end of the First World War, Hermann Hagedorn wrote
a poem, a line of which I want to throw in relief as the word for our consideration in the
background. And this is the line, "We died. But you who live must do a harder thing than dying
is. For you must think, think, think. And ghosts shall drive you on." It is a commonplace remark
to say on an occasion like this that the forces that are pitted against each other in the great
outside world are so vast and so overwhelming, the policies that determine the manipulation of
states, and nations, and armies, and peoples are so impersonal and far-reaching that the private
individual, the so-called little man, the individual like me and you, seems somehow to be
powerless to effect any of these great forces that are determining and shaping the destiny of man.
But this is not all the truth. I would remind you this morning of another dimension of man's
experience in this regard. And it is this, that there is a world, a private world of the individual, in
which the individual's will, in a sense, is as searching and imperious, and in a sense, as absolute
as is the will of God. It may be true that from where you sit or from where I sit, we may not be
able to disarm a single man and a single nation anywhere in the world. It may be that nothing
that we can do immediately can relax the intent of nations to guarantee and perpetuate
themselves, even at the expense of other nations which in turn will brood wars of various kinds.
But there is one thing that is true for you and me. We can see to it that we will not encourage in
ourselves, in the private world in which we live and function, in the details of our common life
by which we relate to the members of our family, to the people on our job, the people in our
immediate community, that at this level, we shall not encourage the things that we condemn in
the great outer world. We cannot then expect to be against war, and against armed violences,
against all of the means and methods and procedures of destruction that is a part of the etiquette
of the modern nation.
We cannot be against that, and at the same time, in our private lives encourage all kinds of little
violence, take advantage of the weakness of individuals who come under our little power, exploit
the emotions of those persons who are related to us in ways that are primary and direct. We must
see to it then that the things that we encourage in ourselves are not at the same time the things
that we condemn in the great outer world. So that the things about which we dream for mankind,
we will work at in our homes, on our streets, in our communities, in our state, in our country.
Now there's a second observation here. And that is that we are under primary and personal
obligation to make what we hunger for real. Sometimes we are so surrounded by ideas, about
reward and punishment for things that we do, we sometimes seem to live under the shadow of a
kind of overall judgment that makes us do the good thing with an eye on the reward for doing the
good thing, or shrink from doing the evil thing because of the kind of punishment that is
involved in the doing of evil thing.
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Now there is a sense in which, of course, we operate on this level. But there is no true
authenticity of character operating at that level. What we must do, if the thing for which we
hunger is real to us, is to put at the disposal of the little deed, the great faith and the great
concern. To put at the disposal of the simple act, the total commitment of the life, so that what
we hunger for mankind will be real to us in that area over which we do have control.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
And then, the final thing follows, that we have within ourselves a very great responsibility to see
to it that we will put our lives at the disposal of the things for which we stand. And that we will
put our lives and their resources over against the things against which we stand. So that whatever
we do, it will register towards the fulfillment of the big dream, and the great hope, and the
overwhelming desire for mankind.
As Hermann Hagedorn reminds us, as a voice coming from the dead, from all of the graves of all
the soldiers around the world, we die, yes. "But you who live must do a harder thing than dying
is. For you must think, think, think. And ghosts-- our ghosts-- shall drive you on." This is the
word.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, oh Lord,
my rock and my redeemer.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
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Dublin Core
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Title
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We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)
Description
An account of the resource
<em>We Believe</em> was a color television program that aired on WHDH-TV, Channel 5, in Boston on weekday mornings at 11:15. From 1958 to 1965, while Howard Thurman was Dean of the Chapel at Boston University, he was the host of the Friday morning show. Each message has a brief introductory section with bells and music before Thurman delivers his short meditation. Some recordings have been edited to remove the intro. In some cases, the Howard Thurman Educational Trust produced tapes with two messages on one recording.<br /><br />"These meditations are no longer than 15 minutes, but highly representative of his style, influence, and search for common ground." - <a href="http://archives.bu.edu/web/howard-thurman">the Howard Thurman and Sue Bailey Thurman Collections at Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.</a><br /><br />
<p style="text-align: right;"><em>We Believe</em> program listing in the TV Guide, March 29, 1958</p>
<img src="http://pittsviva.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/webelieve-whdh-boston.png" style="float: right;" alt="webelieve-whdh-boston.png" />
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Descriptions by Dustin Mailman
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<iframe width="100%" height="820" frameborder="0" src="/files/players/394-785.html" ></iframe>
Original Title
Title as transcribed from tape cassette
Active Membership in the Human Race; The Big Dream, the Little Act (ET-39; GC 11-26-71), 1971 Nov 26
Time Period
The decade in which the recording was produced.
1960s
1950s
Location
The location of the interview, speech, lecture, or sermon
WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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394-785
Creator
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Thurman, Howard
Title
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The Idiom of Brotherhood (1963-11-15); The Big Dream, the Little Act (1959-05-29)
Source
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<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
Format
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audio
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<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
Date
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1963-11-15
1959-05-29
Description
An account of the resource
In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reads from his text Meditations of the Heart. He tells a story of a 69-year-old woman who had come to realize that she did not know much about the black community and decided to go to the library to educate herself on black history. After her time in the library, she was committed to telling the "facts" about black people while she was on the bus and around town. Thurman reflects upon the role that responsibility plays in relation to one's citizenship to humanity.
In this recording within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reads a meditation that speaks of two men who were once enemies sharing the same prison cell. From this meditation, he asks the question of what it means to overcome evil, and anticipate the Kingdom of God? He continues that it is in the disruption of barriers of hatred that humanity builds against itself that one can begin to anticipate the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. He continues, when we put our lives at the disposal of "that in which we stand," no matter how big or small, one is pursuing the greater good of humanity.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Dustin Mailman
awareness
calling
citizenship
creativity
evil
facts
George Cross
Herman Hagedorn
holiday
identity
meditation
meditations of the heart
prison
prisoners
race
reconciliation
solidarity
testimony
truth
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Pitts Theology Library
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394-786.mp3
This is tape number ET 42. From the library of the Howard Thurman Educational Trust, two
meditations by Howard Thurman. This is side one, entitled "Intentional Living."
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord,
my strength and my [? Redeemer. ?]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm beginning this morning by reading a meditation from my book Meditations of the Heart. "No
man is an island. No man lives alone. These words from a poem by John Donne have been set to
music and have become the theme of a variety of radio programs which are concerned with
aspects of social responsibility.
It is of crucial importance for each person to consider how he relates himself to the society of
which he is a part. For many people, and at times for most of us, it is a part of our dreaming to be
let alone, to be free of all involvements and the responsibilities of life and for others. This is but
natural. Often, the mood passes. Sometimes we say that our personal load is so heavy that it is all
we can do to look after ourselves, with all that that entails.
Even as we express such ideas, we are reminded of a wide variety of events that we are never
ourselves alone. We are not an island. We do not live alone.
There is no alternative to the insistence that we cannot escape from personal responsibility for
the social order in which we live. We are part of the society in which we function. There can be
no health for us if we lose our sense of personal responsibility for the social order.
This means that there must be participation in the social process and that, quite specifically, such
participation means that wise and critical use of the ballot must be made, the registering of our
intent to share responsibly in government. The moral inference is that there must not be a
condemnation of the political process of society if we have been unwilling to stand up and be
counted on behalf of the kind of government in which we believe and to which we are dedicated
and for which we are willing to work and sacrifice. Where social change seems to be urgent, we
must share in that process as responsible, law-abiding citizens. The ethical values by which we
live must be implemented on the level of social change.
This calls ever for a careful evaluation of the means to which we give our support. The means
which we are willing to use must not be in real conflict with the ends which our values inspire.
Practically, this means that if we believe in democracy, for instance, we must not be a party to
means that make use of bigotry, prejudice, and hate. We must search and find the facts that are
needed for judgment and cast our lot on the side of the issues which we are willing to embrace as
our private and personal ends.
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thurman.pitts.emory.edu
In working on behalf of such ends, we are morally right as we see the right. We shall not
cooperate with or be a party to means that seem to us evil, means that we would not use in our
personal and private life. In this sense, then, we are our brother's keeper, for we will not demand
of any man that he do on behalf of society as a whole what as persons we would be loath to do
ourselves if we were in his [? place." ?]
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
It is a matter of very great and searching importance, as we think about our own private and
personal working paper, to make a decision or decisions which will render our position with
reference to life and its values very clear. There is one fundamental option available to all of us,
and that option is this. We can decide the things for which we will stand with our lives, with our
resources, with our mind, with our will, with our dedication, and the things against which we will
stand.
Now, this is a very crucial and intimate area of life. I'm not talking about the things that we do as
a part of the facade of our lives. I'm not concerned about the things that we do that are prestigebearing, that will cause us to be seen in the proper light so that our private commitment will not
interfere with the kind of public advance or social advance which we wish to experience either
for ourselves or our children or our families. But rather, am I thinking about the fundamental
decision of a man's life in which he comes to a point of focus with reference to the things in
which, most fundamentally, he believes and for which he is willing to work, to make sacrifices,
if need be, to suffer, if need be, to live.
Now, this is the important thing. Have you decided the things for which you will stand with your
life and the things against which you will stand? Do you know the sense in which you wish to be
counted on the side of the things which to you are most meaningful? Or have you left this to
someone else to decide for you?
There is something very thrilling and exciting, exhilarating, about taking a stand so that you
announce that it doesn't matter where anyone else stands; this is my position. And on behalf of
my position, I am willing to act, to think, to live. Now, you may say, with reference to the great
world in which you are living, that there are so many issues, so many demands, that it's hard to
get the facts. It's hard to know. It may be that the social process is so very complex and
complicated and the way that responsibilities are delegated in our society just you, John Doe
Citizen, may not be able to give expression to any fundamental conviction.
My only reply to that is suggested perhaps by something that was written many years ago by
T.R. Glover. He was discussing the decline of the Roman Empire. And he insisted that the
Roman Empire did not fail, did not collapse, because there were no crops or because of a lack of
rainfall or even because of the mass pressure of the barbarians on the frontiers.
But he said, rather, that the Roman Empire fell because the average Roman citizen had lost his
sense of personal responsibility, personal involvement, in and for the Roman society. They had
abdicated the private and personal prerogative to count, to throw the weight of their little life on
the side of the values which had meaning for them. And in the absence of this kind of positive
declaration, those persons who carried the large responsibility for the society were free to do as
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Transcription
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they please. And yet the decisions which these persons made became binding on those same
people who had abdicated their own personal responsibility.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Therefore, if life is to be meaningful to you, if you are to have a fundamental self-estimate, if
you are to seem to yourself to count, to be essentially independent, then it follows that you must
make up your mind where you are, as you are, in your little world, with your little
responsibilities, with your little life, as it were, the things for which you will stand so that you
can be counted. And when you are counted, then this in itself is its own reward whether or not
the things for which you stand can in your lifetime find fulfillment.
It is madness to seek a land that has never been found before across an ocean that has never been
charted before. If Columbus had reflected thus, he would never have weighed anchor. But with
this madness, he discovered a new world. And so will you.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O lord,
my rock and my [? Redeemer. ?]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
This is tape number ET 42, from the library of the Howard Thurman Educational Trust. This is
side two, entitled, "Man's Relation to the Social Order."
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord,
my strength and my [? Redeemer. ?]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm reading a meditation from my book Meditations of the Heart. "No man is an island. No man
lives alone. These words from a poem by John Donne have been set to music and have become
the theme of a variety of radio programs which are concerned with aspects of social
responsibility.
It is of crucial importance for each person to consider how he relates himself to the society of
which he is a part. [AUDIO OUT] of us. It is a part of our dreaming to be let alone, to be free of
all involvements and the responsibilities of life and for others.
This is but natural. Often, the mood passes. Sometimes we say that our personal load is so heavy
that it is all we can do to look after ourselves with all that that entails.
Even as we express such ideas, we are reminded of a wide variety of events, that we are never
ourselves alone. We are not an island. We do not live alone.
3
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
There is no alternative to the insistence that we cannot escape from personal responsibility for
the social order in which we live. We are part of the society in which we function. There can be
no help for us if we lose our sense of personal responsibility for the social order.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
This means that there must be participation in the social process, and that quite specifically. Such
participation means that wise and critical use must be made of the ballot, the registering of our
intent to share responsibility in government. The moral inference is that there must not be a
condemnation of the political process of society if we have been unwilling to stand up and be
counted on behalf of the kind of government in which we believe and for which we are willing to
work and sacrifice. Where social change seems to be urgent, we must share in that process as
responsible, law-abiding citizens. The ethical values by which we live must be implemented on
the level of social change.
This calls ever for a careful evaluation of the means to which we give our support. The means
which we are willing to use must not be in real conflict with the ends which our values inspire.
Practically, this means that if we believe in democracy, for instance, we must not be a party to
means that make use of bigotry and hatred and prejudice.
We must search and find the facts that are needed for judgment and cast our lot on the side of the
issues which we are willing to embrace as our private and personal ends. In working on behalf of
such ends, which are morally right as we see the right, we shall not cooperate with or be a party
to means that seem to us evil, means that we would not use in our personal, private life. In this
sense, we are our brother's keeper, for we will not demand of any man that he do on behalf of
society as a whole what as persons, we would be loath to do ourselves if we were in his place.
The feeling of isolation, the desire to be let alone, to be free to go about one's own affairs without
involvement in the common life, is a perfectly natural feeling. There is always, present in each of
us, a sense that if we somehow could build a wall around ourselves, then we would be able to
attend to our business, to hoe our row, to find our meaning, and to live our lives. It would be
wonderful, I suppose, if this could be done in fact. But it happens that we live in a world in
which each individual is a part of a wider social context, a world in which each individual finds
his particular meaning, never in isolation, but always in some kind of human context. Therefore,
it is important, as we think about the meaning of our lives and the living of our lives, that we take
into account that we are a part of a social organism and that there is no aspect of our society that
does not finally come to us for our veto or our certification.
Long ago, an historian writing about the fall of the Roman Empire, T.R. Glover, by name, said
that the Roman Empire collapsed not because of a failure of the wheat crop or the grain crop or
failure of rain or any act of God. It did not fall because of the pressure of the barbarians against
the frontiers of the empire. No.
But he says that the Roman Empire collapsed because the average Roman citizen, the average
Roman citizen, had lost his sense of responsibility for the total welfare of the empire. And he had
delegated this responsibility to the Senate. And much of the economic burden of the society was
on the backs of slaves, of people who'd been caught in battle. Now, he said when the barbarians
4
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
began to press on the frontier, there was not sufficient strength within the body politic to
withstand this pressure, so it collapsed as if it were an egg.
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Wherever individuals, then, lose their sense of responsibility for the total well-being of their
fellow, then their own well-being is threatened. Therefore, as we seek to live responsibly, then it
seems to me that it is important to examine as carefully as we may the tools that are available to
us for expressing our social concern. One of these tools, of course, is the ballot. Another tool is
participation in all kinds of movements and processes which have as their purpose the altering of
the social pattern so as to make more room for all kinds of human beings to breathe.
This feeling that I can never be what I should be until every man is what every man ought to be-or to mix the figure, however far ahead of himself a turtle puts his two front feet, he cannot move
his body until he brings up his hind legs. For better or for worse, we are all tied together in one
bundle. And if I neglect my fellows, then the total health of the common life is thereby depleted,
and in turn and in essence, my own health is depleted. Therefore, when I ask myself, what is it
that I most deeply desire and need for my own fulfillment, how may I make available to my own
life the richness and the resources all around me in order that I and my children or my family
may be able to reap the richest and fullest benefits-- the question that I ask of myself, I must also
ask of my neighbor. For what meets the deepest need in me must also meet the deepest need in
him.
And when I work for myself, I work for him. When I work for him, I work for myself, for better
or for worse. No man is an island. We are tied together in one [? bundle." ?]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord,
my rock and my [? Redeemer. ?]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The preceding program was pre-recorded.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
5
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)
Description
An account of the resource
<em>We Believe</em> was a color television program that aired on WHDH-TV, Channel 5, in Boston on weekday mornings at 11:15. From 1958 to 1965, while Howard Thurman was Dean of the Chapel at Boston University, he was the host of the Friday morning show. Each message has a brief introductory section with bells and music before Thurman delivers his short meditation. Some recordings have been edited to remove the intro. In some cases, the Howard Thurman Educational Trust produced tapes with two messages on one recording.<br /><br />"These meditations are no longer than 15 minutes, but highly representative of his style, influence, and search for common ground." - <a href="http://archives.bu.edu/web/howard-thurman">the Howard Thurman and Sue Bailey Thurman Collections at Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.</a><br /><br />
<p style="text-align: right;"><em>We Believe</em> program listing in the TV Guide, March 29, 1958</p>
<img src="http://pittsviva.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/webelieve-whdh-boston.png" style="float: right;" alt="webelieve-whdh-boston.png" />
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Descriptions by Dustin Mailman
AudioWithTranscription
Audio that is shown through the 3Play Media embedded interactive transcript
Audio with Transcription
<iframe width="100%" height="820" frameborder="0" src="/files/players/394-786.html" ></iframe>
Internal Notes
Notes for project team
Edited - GL 7/29
Original Title
Title as transcribed from tape cassette
Intentional Living; Man's Relation to the Social Order (ET-42; GC 11-30-71), 1971 Nov 30
Time Period
The decade in which the recording was produced.
1960s
Location
The location of the interview, speech, lecture, or sermon
WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
394-786
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Thurman, Howard
Title
A name given to the resource
Intentional Living (1961-06-23); Man's Relation to Social Order (1963-10-04)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1961-06-23
1963-10-04
Description
An account of the resource
In both of these recordings within the We Believe series; Howard Thurman reads from his text, "Meditations of the Heart." In them, we hear Thurman reflecting upon citizenship and right action. Thurman's central question throughout these reflections is: What does it me to be a full, free, and responsible citizen? He claims that by having a moral praxis that rejects hatred in every way it manifests itself, one is able to resist means that contradict the end they are seeking.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Dustin Mailman
action
citizenship
Co-Laboring
decision
democracy
egg
evil
freedom
government
intention
John Donne
justice
meditations of the heart
morality
No Man is and Island
non-violent resistance
responsibility
Roman Empire
T.R. Glover
voting
working paper
-
http://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pittsthurman/original/0c8834938a0d069c845061021b62f763.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI4CD764Y635IGLNA&Expires=1711701000&Signature=kgNfOOqEf4om%2BqUE1EZGi943NL0%3D
d3e14ccb3b004caefeae9531a0acfe7d
PDF Text
Text
Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
394-811.mp3
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, oh, lord,
my strength and my redeemer.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
This is my final broadcast until next September. I wish to express my personal appreciation to all
of you who have taken the time to write letters or postal cards, or make telephone calls
expressing appreciation for the weekly broadcasts. I wish for each of you a full, and restful, and
creative summer.
Because tomorrow is Memorial Day, I have chosen to read several poems having to do with
some aspect of this particular celebration. As the overall phrase covering what I shall read, I'm
using two lines from Hermann Hagedorn's poem about the unknown soldier.
And these lines are, we died, but you who live must do a harder thing than dying is. For you
must think, and ghosts shall drive you on. The first thing that I'm reading is from John
Drinkwater's "Abraham Lincoln", and Lincoln is speaking. I beg you not to harass yourself,
ma'am. I too believe war to be wrong. It's the weakness, and the jealousy, and folly of men that
make a thing so wrong possible.
But we are all weak, and jealous, and foolish. That's how the world is and we cannot outstrip the
world. Some of the worst of us are sullen, aggressive, but clumsy and greedy pirates. Some of us
have grown out of that, but the best of us have an instinct to resist aggression if it won't listen to
persuasion. You may say it's a wrong instinct. I don't know. But it's there, and it's there in
millions of good men.
I don't believe it's the wrong instinct I believe that the world must come to wisdom slowly. It is
for us who hate aggression to persuade men always against it and hope that, little by little, they
will hear us. But in the meantime, there will come moments when the aggressors will force the
instinct to resistance to act. Then we must act earnestly, praying always in our courage that never
again will this thing happen.
And then we must turn again and again to persuasion. This appeal to force is the misdeed of an
imperfect world. But we are imperfect. We must strive to purify the world, but we must not think
ourselves pure, above the world. And the next that I shall read is from the Arizona poet of the
desert, Badger Clark. This is about the Civil War.
My father prayed as he drew a bead on the gray coats. Back in those blazing years when the
house was divided. Bless his old heart. There never was truer or kinder, yet he prayed while
hoping the ball from his clumsy old musket might thud to the body of some hot eyed young
southerner and tumble him limp in the mud of the Vicksburg trenches.
1
�Pitts Theology Library
The Howard Thurman Digital Archive
Transcription
thurman.pitts.emory.edu
That was my father, serving the Lord and his country, praying and shooting whole heartedly,
never a doubt. But now, what about me in my own day of battle? Could I put my prayers behind
a slim Springfield bullet? Hardly, except to mutter, Jesus, we part here. My country calls for my
body and takes my soul also. Do you see those humans herded and driven against me?
Pitts Theology Library
Emory University
Turn away, Jesus, for I've got to kill them. Why? Oh, well, it's the way of my fathers. And such
evils bring some vast, vague good to my country. I don't know why. But today, my business is
killing. And my gods must be luck and the devil till this thing is over. Leave me now, Lord. Your
eye makes me slack in my duty. My father could mix his prayers with his shooting, and he was a
rare, true man in his generation. Now, I'm fairly decent in mine, I reckon. Yet if I should pray
like him, I'd spoil it by laughing. What is the matter?
And then this by Edna St. Vincent Millay, written when she was a young woman. And as I
understand from an article which I read concerning her many, many months ago, she herself is
alleged to have repented the mood of this poem. Of this fact, I'm not sure, but I state it because I
feel that it should be said. And the poem is called "The Conscientious Objector".
I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for death. I hear him leading his horse out of the stall. I
hear the clatter on the barn floor. He is in haste. He has business in Cuba, business in the
Balkans. Many calls to make this morning, but I will not hold the bridle while he cinches the
girth. And he may mount by himself. I will not give him a leg up.
Though he flicks my shoulders with his whip, I will not tell him which way the fox ran. With his
hoof on my breast, I will not tell him where the black boy hides in the swamp. I shall die, but that
is all that I shall do for death. I am not on his payroll. I will not tell him the whereabouts of my
friends, nor of my enemies either. Though he promise me much, I will not map him the route to
any man's door. Am I a spy in the land of the living that I should deliver men to death?
Brother, the past word, and the plans of our city are safe with me. Never through me shall you be
overcome. I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for death. And finally, this from John Bunyan,
"Mr. Valiant for Truth". After this, it was noised about that Mr. Valiant for Truth was taken with
a summons, and he had this for a token that the summons was true, that his picture was broken at
the fountain.
And then he said, by my sword, I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage. And my
courage and skill to him that can get them, my marks and scars I carry with me to be a witness
for me that I have fought his battles. Who will be my rewarder? I shall die, but this is all that I
shall do for death. I am not on death's payroll.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, oh, Lord,
my rock and my redeemer.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
2
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
We Believe (Television Series, 1958-1965)
Description
An account of the resource
<em>We Believe</em> was a color television program that aired on WHDH-TV, Channel 5, in Boston on weekday mornings at 11:15. From 1958 to 1965, while Howard Thurman was Dean of the Chapel at Boston University, he was the host of the Friday morning show. Each message has a brief introductory section with bells and music before Thurman delivers his short meditation. Some recordings have been edited to remove the intro. In some cases, the Howard Thurman Educational Trust produced tapes with two messages on one recording.<br /><br />"These meditations are no longer than 15 minutes, but highly representative of his style, influence, and search for common ground." - <a href="http://archives.bu.edu/web/howard-thurman">the Howard Thurman and Sue Bailey Thurman Collections at Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University.</a><br /><br />
<p style="text-align: right;"><em>We Believe</em> program listing in the TV Guide, March 29, 1958</p>
<img src="http://pittsviva.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/webelieve-whdh-boston.png" style="float: right;" alt="webelieve-whdh-boston.png" />
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Descriptions by Dustin Mailman
AudioWithTranscription
Audio that is shown through the 3Play Media embedded interactive transcript
Audio with Transcription
<iframe width="100%" height="820" frameborder="0" src="/files/players/394-811.html" ></iframe>
Original Title
Title as transcribed from tape cassette
Selections for Memorial Day (WB-7B), 1964 May 29
Time Period
The decade in which the recording was produced.
1960s
Location
The location of the interview, speech, lecture, or sermon
WHDH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
394-811
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Thurman, Howard
Title
A name given to the resource
Selections for Memorial Day (1964-05-29)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/rp8k9">MSS 394</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<a href="http://pitts.emory.edu/">Pitts Theology Library, Emory University</a>
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1964-05-29
Description
An account of the resource
In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reads three poems written by various authors speaking to subjects of war, conscientious objection, aggression, and violence. Each of these poems are read as a reflection upon the Memorial Day holiday. The first poem, by John Drinkwater, deals with aggression as it is related to war. The second poem, by Badget Clark, deals with a young man's decision to fight in the Civil War. The third, and final poem, by Edna St. Vincent Millay, speaks to conscientious objection while hiding a black child from people of power. Each of these poems emphasize Thurman's commitment to an anti-war ethic, pacifism, and the religion of Jesus.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Description by Dustin Mailman
Abraham Lincoln
aggression
America
anti-violence
anti-war
Badger Clark
citizenship
civil war
consciousness
death
Edna St. Vincent Millay
evil
Herman Hagedorn
holidays
John Drinkwater
poem
prayer
soul
war