Strength to love

IN THESE TURBULENT DAYS of uncertainty the evils of war and of economic and racial injustice threaten the very survival of the human race. Indeed, we live in a day of grave crisis. The sermons in this volume have the present crisis as their background; and they have been selected for this volume because, in one way or another, they deal with the personal and collective problems that the crisis presents. In these sermons I have sought to bring the Christian message to bear on the social evils that cloud our day and the personal witness and discipline required. All of these sermons were originally written for my former parishioners in the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church of Montgomery, Alabama, and my present parishioners in the Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia. Many of the sermons were later preached to congregations throughout the nation.

All of these sermons were preached during or after the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, and I have drawn a number of illustrations from that particular movement, some of which were included in my book Stride Toward Freedom. Three of the sermons "Love in Action," "Loving Your Enemies," and "Shattered Dreams"-were written while I was in Georgia jails. "Pilgrimage to Nonviolence" is a revision and updating of material which previously appeared in The Christian Century and Stride Toward Freedom. Although it is not a sermon, it has been included at the end of the volume at the specific urging of the publisher.