Over spring break I was able to have some down time on the couch in front of the TV. Instead of browsing and binge watching on Netflix I decided to flip through the cable channels and HBO was televising a documentary about Martin Luther King Jr. called King in the Wilderness.

In the Spiritual Journey course for seniors I have chosen to discuss spiritual darkness. I dove into the idea of a “Dark Night of the Soul” from St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. I highlighted the spiritual darkness of Mother Teresa that we now know she was enduring thanks to the publication of Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light which includes her personal writings about her spiritual struggle.

I also chose to have students look at American spirituality. In particular I pointed them to Martin Luther King Jr. and the spiritual basis for his ministry of nonviolent protest. King in the Wilderness gives a glimpse into the last months of Dr. King’s life and the hardships that he endured in his ministry. The film highlights the criticism from the Black Power movement of his nonviolent philosophy, from those that were displeased with his speaking out against the Vietnam War, and from those that worked with him in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference that felt he was spreading himself thin taking on African-American rights, poverty, and anti-war issues. An interesting thing that I learned from the film was the work of J. Edgar Hoover at the FBI to discredit Dr. King, labeling him a communist and morally bankrupt in his personal life. However, the most compelling part of the documentary was the highlighting of Dr. King’s spiritual struggle. He made jokes about assassination to his colleagues, expressed anger with himself and his colleagues that they were not doing enough, developed a tic, and expressed his thoughts that he would not live very long. In the end, according to the documentary, he had come to terms with death and no longer feared what was inevitable.

In history books, the lives of social justice heroes are often cut down to what is “inspirational” and deemed “important”. However, according to our Catholic faith, suffering is often an essential part of our life in Christ. It is in those moments that there are great “fruits”. I think it is important to remind students that everyone struggles. The spiritual struggle can be one of the hardest to endure but they are not alone. Even those who they see the face of Christ in so easily, have had periods of anger, doubt, and “nothingness” in their spiritual journey.

Love showing a documentary and having a student say thank you because she learned something completely new, shed some tears, and wants to watch it again!