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When a person truly speaks from their soul what she or he says or does is completely selfless, resulting in clear benefits for everyone. This looks different for each soultype. SoulType 1, for example, recognizes the truth that all people are fundamentally equal-that as human souls their value does not depend on who they are or what they have done in their lives. The soul of the serial killer is no different at its core than the soul of a head of state. Though society may need to deal with them differently, both can be treated with equal dignity and respect.
During Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign, Martin Luther King was assassinated. That day, Kennedy was scheduled to speak in one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Indianapolis. Although he was advised to cancel his speech, he pressed on and gave a brilliant impromptu speech where he spoke directly from his soul. As a result of his 5-minute speech, Indianapolis was the only major city in the United States where rioting did not occur.
As he approached the flatbed truck where he was to speak, Kennedy asked an aide, "Do they know about Martin Luther King?" The answer was, "We have left it up to you."
The following speech was transcribed from a video titled "Great American Speeches: 80 Years of Political Oratory."
Kennedy said, "Could you lower those signs, please? I have some very sad news for all of you, and that is Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee (screams and cries from the crowd). Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are, to what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black, considering the evidence, evidently is there were white people who were responsible. You can be filled with bitterness and with hatred and a desire for revenge-we can move in that direction as a country-in greater polarization-black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.
For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man-but we have to make an effort in the United States. We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond or go beyond these rather difficult times. My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote: 'Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.'
What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another-a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black. We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We've had difficult times in the past and we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence, it is not the end of lawlessness, and it is not the end of disorder, but the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land. Let's dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: 'To tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.' Let us dedicate ourselves to that and say a prayer for our country and for our people. Thank you very much." (cheers and applause)
Copyright © 2000 Alan Sheets and Barbara Tovey