When was the last time you bought a book? When was the last time you popped into your local bookstore, browsed, and purchased at will?
When was the last time you sat and got lost in a book? Or just thought - “I didn’t enjoy that, but glad I got through it.”
Either way, books, that are written well, can be a portal. A refuge, a respite, and an absolute delight.
One friend’s grandmother called her nighttime ritual of reading before bed her “delicious time.” I like that.
This year I set an unspoken rule for myself. I can only buy a new book once I have finished one. Buy one, read one, buy another. Simple.
Spending money, that I don’t have, on books is something I will never regret.
So today I bought the latest King: A Life by Jonathon Eig. It’s the latest Martin Luther King Jr. biography. The first in 40 years, full of new FBI tapes, and interviews with some of King’s closest friends and loved ones. I’m excited to get into it.
I’ve long appreciated and wrestled with Dr King’s work and writing. But have fallen prey to flattening him to a 2-D figure that had some nice things to say about love and non-violence.
Everyone knows the “I Have A Dream Speech.” Think of all the pastors and church leaders who posted something on MLK Day but were the same ones saying Black Lives Matter wasn’t a gospel issue.
Anyway, I digress.
Reading helps humanize history.
What do I mean?
It’s so easy to think of time, historical figures, and major events as linear. But history is not static, it is dynamic.
Think of your heroes, or the people you think are heroes. Every one of them was human. Take your pick.
Gahndi, Emehlia Aerhart, King David, Peter, Paul and the other “mega” apostles - heck even Jesus was human.
They pooped, they laughed, they cried, they got angry, they ate. They had off days. In many cases, lots of them had inner demons and struggles that were horrendous at best.
Sometimes we rush past this. It makes us uncomfortable. Because we are afraid of sitting with the scars, beauty, and chaos in our souls. But God is not afraid of our humanness - it’s a gift if you can believe so.
I say this not to be disrespectful but to call attention to the wonder and gift of being human.
As Jonathan Eig responded to an interview about why he wrote this book:
I want people to remember that King was a man that he had moments of doubt. And when you think about him that way, he becomes greater as a hero. And it also means that we can aspire to emulate him because we don’t have to be perfect to fight for what we believe in.1
I love good biographies and honest memoirs for that exact reason. I love when writers do not seek to create unapproachable demi-gods out of mortals but show that amidst the downfalls and moral failures, we are still capable of justice and acts of radical mercy.
So tonight, I’ll pour a glass of water (wine would sound more poetic but alcohol ruins my sleep), sit on the couch and read about the life - warts and all - of the man that was Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
And you, you should go buy a great book too!
Blair Paddock, Author Jonathan Eig Takes Nuanced Look at Martin Luther King Jr. in ‘King: A Life’, WTTW News, August 26, 2023, https://news.wttw.com/2023/08/26/author-jonathan-eig-takes-nuanced-look-martin-luther-king-jr-king-life#:~:text=Eig%3A%20I%20want%20people%20to,for%20what%20we%20believe%20in.