Howard Thurman then and now

Can you imagine having an encounter that was so important to you that you thought about it for the next 45 years? A meeting like this happened to scholar, theologian, writer, civil rights leader and Christian mystic, Howard Thurman. The meeting was with Mahatma Gandhi while Thurman was in India in 1936 when he was 36 years old. I just learned about this pivotal meeting.

I attended a four-session class for the month of February at Memorial United Methodist Church titled, “Thurman Thursdays.” Two church staff led us through some of Thurman’s works coupled with singing spirituals. The class felt like a mini retreat because we stepped away from everyday cares and worries. We practiced the silence and meditation that were pivotal to Thurman’s life and work. We listened to some of his slow, deliberate and deeply resonant speaking. We shared honestly our own cultural biases and difficulties with being spiritually centered. The class was timely in more ways than one.

In case you are not familiar with Howard Thurman, here is a brief summary. Howard Thurman was born in 1900 and grew up in a segregated part of Daytona, Florida called Waycross. His grandmother was a formerly enslaved person whose faith and discipline were major influences in his life. There were only three high schools in the state that admitted black students. His family scraped together the money to send him to a private Christian high school in Jacksonville. From there, he went to Morehouse College and Colgate Rochester Divinity School. He was ordained by the Northern (American) Baptist denomination which is the same body that ordained me a little more than 50 years later.

After serving as a pastor in Oberlin, Ohio, he taught jointly at Morehouse and its sister school, Spelman College. It was during this time that he studied Quakerism and Christian mysticism and developed both his deeper spirituality and pacifism. He intuitively knew there had to be a way to deal with the oppression of racism without being crushed by it. He wrote:

There is something in every one of you that waits and listens to the sound of the genuine within yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the end of strings that someone else pulls.

 In 1932, Thurman was selected as dean of the Rankin Chapel at Howard University and as a professor at the divinity school. In 1935-36, he was chosen to lead a delegation of African Americans on a six-month trip to Southeast Asia for mission outreach and meeting with world leaders. They were able to meet with Gandhi, who believed that Black Americans would be the ones to introduce to the world the practice of nonviolent social change that had led India to fight British imperialism.

It was this meeting and Thurman’s further study and teaching that would shape the emerging Civil Rights Movement in this country. His 1949 book, “Jesus and the Disinherited,” was pivotal for the Civil Rights Movement. It provided an interpretation of the Gospels, which guided Christians to deepen their faith by withstanding oppression and working for nonviolent social change at the same time. He had attended Morehouse College at the same time as Martin Luther King Jr.’s father. It was through this connection that Thurman became a mentor to the younger King.

It has been said that if there had not been a Howard Thurman, there would not have been a Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Howard Thurman’s personal story and his broad influence got me thinking, “How many other potential Howard Thurmans are out there?” How many bright, young, deeply aware and personally brave Black boys and girls need the spark of education to send them on their way to greatness? How many sensitive souls need the firm guidance of an open and loving church that will nurture and care for them and help them be launched into the world for good?

I conclude with one of his prayers that we can make our own:

O Holy God, open unto me light for my darkness, courage for my fear and hope for my despair.

O loving God, open unto me wisdom for my confusion, forgiveness for my sins, love for my hate.

O God of peace, open unto me peace for my turmoil, joy for my sorrow and strength for my weakness. O generous God, open my heart to receive all your gifts.