There are all kinds of little and big things that mark holidays like today. The mail doesn’t run, trash doesn’t get picked up, schools close. Twitter trends get dominated, major public figures take to podiums, and plenty of other folks post tributes in their own way on YouTube. Some of all that stuff is kind of crazy, but it’s all a part of our nation taking a day to stop, be disrupted, and just think.
I’ve thought a good bit of Dr. Martin Luther King today. I’ve thought of the power of a person’s commitment to a cause, and of the power of words to inspire people and challenge the status quo. I’ve thought about what it takes for such a person to emerge, and about what in the world I would have done and thought had I lived in his era. I’ve felt disappointment in the corners of the church that failed to respond in a godly way, and a bit of pity and compassion for those who have lived with shame and guilt over those days. I certainly have thought about those who suffered such real injustice and indignities.
Mostly, though, I’ve simply thought about how much of my present life would be impossible without the life of Dr. King. Some of his own words have powerfully shaped my own heart, and those of my generation. We received them secondhand, and that probably made them easier to accept than they were to the generations of the crisis. But they’ve stood up over time, and have really seasoned the way many of us think about race and humanity.
The life my family lives now, the very happy life of an interracial family, lived in the middle of the community we’re a part of…it all would have been nearly impossible if Dr. King hadn’t been able to give such powerful voice to the Civil Rights movement. The changes in our own hearts, in the community we’re a part of, and particularly the church because of his influence make possible my joy. I give God the glory, and Dr. King my thanks. And for all those unnamed fighters, and dreamers that I don’t even know to thank, I thank God.
