It was a very long time ag that I first heard the name Martin Luther king, and the man who spoke it did so in a derogatory way. The summer I was 14, we were at my Aunt Ruby’s in Alabama for a vacation, and the middle of the Montgomery bus boycott.
At the dinner table, Aunt Ruby and her husband Evans said they just could not understand what it was these colored folks wanted. They were being deluded by that so-called preacher, Martin Luther King, a communist. Older coloreds were always grateful for what they were given. What was the matter with young people?
All you had to do was look around and down the road where the hired hands lived and you would know. We can only be grateful that King and the people who stood with him had the courage to reshape this Nation. Today we honor him and his legacy even as we still have a long way to be an America for all who are here.
Prayer for the Day
May we fulfill the promise of our Nation, O God,
As you are our constant companion in our lives;
May we be open to new ways of thinking about our world
Which often seems so confusing and troubling.
Bring us from our past into a future open with possibilities
So we may find delight in being your disciples.
In the name of him who calls us into discipleship,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.
[I]t is not enough for us to talk about love, love is one of the pivotal points of the Christian face, faith. There is another side called justice. And justice is really love in calculation. Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love.
Martin Luther King (1929-1968)
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh –
My adversaries and foes – they shall stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
Though war rise up against me, yet will I be confident.
Psalm 27 1-3