One presidential candidate recently speculated that he was so good at “the art of the deal” that he might have negotiated a deal that would have prevented the civil war.

Such arrogant boasting overlooks an essential historical fact:  in the first century of the United States, there were a number of “deals” that prevented a civil war. But these were only “deals” among people of European ancestry.

People of African ancestry were never included in the negotiation of these “deals”. Indeed, the kidnapping and enslavement of people of African ancestry was the price paid for preventing a civil war between people of European ancestry! (See my blogs “‘Deals’ About Slavery and Racism: The Constitution (1787)”, “‘Deals’ About Slavery and Racism: Lincoln in 1861”, and “‘Deals’” About Slavery and Racism: The Election of 1876”).

Furthermore, in my book Visions of America (first published in 2004), I describe how Harriett Beecher Stowe and Martin Luther King taught us that slavery and racism cannot be overcome by deals crafted to save the Union for white people at the expense of black people.

As I noted in Visions of America, at page 68:

[Harriett Beecher Stowe] accurately foresaw that the Union could not be saved “by combining together, to protect injustice and cruelty, making a common capital of sin.” The Union could only be saved “by repentance, justice and mercy.”

Martin Luther King struck a similar note in his struggles to overcome the legacies of slavery and racism that continue to curse America to this very day.

In essence, Harriett Beecher Stowe and Martin Luther King were explaining that the key to healing our lives, our families, our churches, our businesses, our politics, our governments, our nations, our civilization, and all Humanity, does not lie in clever transactions (“deals”) but in wholesome relationships!

The key is not the art of the DEAL. The key is the art of LOVE!

I explained why in my blogs “Overcoming Divisions”, and ”We Need Inspiring Visions of a Bright Future. Why?”; and in my book Lighting the World, at pages 76-82.

And so, as I wrote in 2004 in Visions of America, at pages 131-133:

Nothing keeps the Torch of Liberty [on the Statue of Liberty] shining more brightly than the courage and vision of people who know that we can overcome hatred, injustice, and prejudice.

Hence, just as George Washington’s vision of America was indispensable to victory in the War for Independence and Abraham Lincoln’s vision of America was indispensable to victory in the Civil War, Martin Luther King’s vision of America was indispensable to victory in the Civil Rights Movement.

Indeed, Martin Luther King’s of America became indispensable to victory in the Cold War.

His vision allowed us to hope that people could overcome tyranny through nonviolent but direct action—without annihilating all Humanity in a “Third World War.”

The threat of universal extinction from nuclear weapons gave rise to a moral imperative toward nonviolence that had not heretofore been present in human history, except for Mahatma Ghandi’s valiant struggle in colonial India for independence from the British Empire.

And so, instead of telling blacks to kill whites in revenge for centuries of enslavement and exploitation, Martin Luther King found the faith to hope that whites could change. He wanted to convert whites to his vision of America, not destroy them.

This vision of an American glowing in the light of the Torch of Liberty is enshrined in the speech that Martin Luther King delivered from the top of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the historic March on Washington in August 1963. . . .

We’ve all seen videos of the historic moment. As Martin Luther King stands at the microphone, he sees a sea of white and black faces stretching across the Mall with its reflecting pool, the spire of Washington’s Monument, and the distant dome of the Capitol.

A few months later, Martin Luther King described what happened this way.  He started reading from his prepared speech. But then, “just all of a sudden—the audience response was wonderful that day—and all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used—I’d used it many times before, that thing about ‘I have a dream’—and I just felt that I wanted to use it here. I don’t know why. I hadn’t thought about it before the speech.”

How can we doubt that the Spirit of God inspired Martin Luther King that day?

How can we doubt that the Spirit of God gave him the dream that would move America and change all Humanity?

The Spirit of God enabled him to dream of the America that Abraham saw when he left behind his homeland to seek a land where all people would be blessed.

The Spirit of God enabled him to dream of the America that Moses saw when he told Pharaoh to let his people go free.

The Spirit of God enabled him to dream of the America that Jesus saw when he taught us to be Good Samaritans who will bind the wounds of those in need even though we have been taught to hate them because of their race, their nation, or their religion.

The Spirit of God gave Martin Luther King these words whose fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23):

I . . . have a dream today. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed—we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day . . . the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. . . .

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream today that one day . . . little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

The crowd grew louder and louder as each person in it dreamed Martin Luther King’s dream, as each person in it saw Martin Luther King’s vision of America.

In his vision of America, we “let freedom ring” from every mountainside in the East, from every mountain peak in the West, and from every valley in the South. Because:

When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last.’

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

What lessons can we learn from this blog to help Israel and Jews, and Palestinians, Muslims and Christians, heal the relationships among them in the Holy Land?

What lessons can we learn from this blog to help heal divisions and relationships in the United States among Democrats, Progressives, Republicans, and MAGA?

—Heal divisions and relationships among Russia (and its supporters) and Ukraine (and its supporters)?

—Heal divisions and relationships among the United States (and its friends and allies) and Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea?

Why are relationships (the art of love) more important than transactions (the art of the deal)?

Do you yearn to live out Martin Luther King’s Dream, as if it is something you love to eat such as a hot fudge sundae & hot buttered popcorn? How? Why?

Or, do you reluctantly tolerate Martin Luther King’s Dream, as if it is something you know is good for you even though you hate to eat it such as kale & broccoli? How? Why?

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For related thoughts, please read my blogs “June 1962”, “Healing the Holy Land”, “Compassion in the Holy Land”, “Deals About Slavery and Racism: The Constitution”, “Deals About Slavery and Racism: Lincoln in 1861”, “Deals About Slavery and Racism: The Election of 1876”, “How Do We Build a Civilization That Is Good—That Is Very Good?”, “Racism Is America Gone Astray”, “The 500-Year Marathon To Overcome Racism”, and “Nationalism Is Patriotism Gone Astray”.