One Must Consider...

One Must Consider…

Howard Washington Thurman was a wonderful man and human being. A sentient being acutely aware of the worldly world wherein he lived. Esotericist, Pyotr Demianovich Ouspenskii, is noted for having said, “Life is a pain factory.” In a world burdened with pain, Thurman found influence. As a theologian, philosopher, educator and civil rights leader, his acquaintance with the pain life brings to bear on the human experience was certainly empirical. As a black man, this empiricism can be characterized as acute.

As with many African Americans of his generation, and the continuing decades of racism and social injustice, Thurman worked diligently to make the world a better place. One must consider the spirituality the African slave took from the bondage of plantations and agricultural fields to the halls of academia; formation of religious institutions and philosophical thought found its way into the DNA of Thurman. For what good is a lamplight in a world captivated by elements of darkness, where there is very little oil to power the lumens needed to manifest light in that darkness? It is safe to say, as a religious minister, Thurman was a light to many feet and visibility to the darkened path of people traveling through the pains of life, and the trepidations of their world that