Where is the Divine presence when bad things happen? How was God at work when a gunman opened fire on church congregants in Charleston? How has God been present in the racial strife that has become, once again, prominent in the U.S.?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew strife. He also knew the presence of the Divine. May his words provide some inspiration as we look to identify God at work, even in troubling times…

• Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.
• The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
• I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
• We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
• It is cheerful to God when you rejoice or laugh from the bottom of your heart.
• Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
• The gospel at its best deals with the whole man, not only his soul but his body, not only his spiritual well-being, but his material well being. Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.
• We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
• That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.
• Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
• The end of life is not to be happy, nor to achieve pleasure and avoid pain, but to do the will of God, come what may.