John Gallen, S.J.
Liturgical Celebration American Style The author sees the developing shape of American religious experience as contemplative freedom in search of mystery. To be effective our liturgy must celebrate this distinctive experience. Martin Luther King, Jr., preached inspiringly at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, in Montgomery, Alabama, twenty-one years ago (November 4, 1956), about a God who was a living God, God of power and might, energetically active in the history of today's America: God of the universe, of this place where his glory dwells, dynamic and creative source of all life an¡d being and surging impulse towards fulfillment. Dr. King called upon a God who was God of America and of all people. "And now," he cried, "And now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling and lift us from the dark vaJley of despair to the bright mountain of hope, from the midnight of desperation to the daybreak of joy; to Him be power and authority for ever and ever." A few months earlier (May 17), he told a congregation in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, "Today we are witnessing a massive change. A worldshaking decree by the nine Justices of the United States Supreme Court opened the Red Sea, and the forces of justice are crossing to the other side ... looking back we see the forces of segregation dying on the seashore." (See Coretta Scott. King, My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr., New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1969, pp. 139-141.) Dr. King spoke from the conviction that God was stupendously alive in America, wielding the force of his powerful right arm,lifting from the valley of despair to the mountain of hope, driving darkness away to bring the daytime of joy, drowning the howling forces of today's evil in the suffocating waters of his own dread 29