Head and Heart: Dr. King--A Meditation

Monday, January 15, 2018

Dr. King--A Meditation

photo by ellabella1 / flickr

Today is the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Strange time to celebrate his birthday--with all the chaos swirling around us. Dr. King, by this time I thought we would have moved further down the road you dreamed about: "to turn the mountain of despair into a stone of hope." And for a while after the election of Barack Obama I though maybe we had turned a corner. One of those good places where there is no turning back. I was wrong. For somehow his presidency unleashed a stream of venom and hatred that we thought was gone forever.

Today's President has not helped the cause. In fact we are more divided than we have been in a long, long time. But I don't want to talk about Mr. Trump. We know him. We have all heard him ad nauseam. No. I want to talk about us and what we can do with the time we have.

When you are 82 are find yourself attending too many funerals--you know painfully there is not as much ahead as there was behind. And that is a grief. But it is also a gift I guess. It means that I am more conscious than I've ever been too realize how precious the days I have left truly are. I'm trying to make the most of it--but like so many others I still fall of the wagon and fall off the wagon and fall off the wagon. But I still tear up when I hear "We shall overcome some day...deep in my heart I do believe..." because in my lifetime we have made incredible progress and somehow, despite it all I have this hope.

I'm still preaching and I am enjoying it whether those that come do or not. But last Sunday on the eve of Dr. King's birthday--I remember something that happened to me in Birmingham while I was Pastor. Must of you know that I was Pastor of an inner-city church there. And after work I would drive a mile or so down the road to work out. It was good medicine. I would change clothes at the Y and run up and down the streets of downtown Birmingham. It took the kinks out most days.

And one particular afternoon I had put behind me a lot of stuff I had dealt with that day. I needed to run, maybe away from it all. Anyway I pulled into a parking space near the Y took my Gym bag and started up the street. A black man came up to me. I thought, Oh, no. He looked like he might be homeless and I did not need another 'Help me" So I shook my head, and said, "I don't have any money," "Mister", he said," I don't want any money--I jest want you to know I ain't crazy." This is not what I expected. But I told him, "No, you are not crazy but you are a child of God." He is face lit up like a Christmas tree. And he nodded, turned and walked away. All the way down the street I still remember what he said, over and over, "Child of God...Child of God...Child of God."

And on this special day I do want to remember all those out there that need a reminder that regardless of who they are and what they have done or failed to do--they really are children of God.

And so Dr. King on this day, with all its problems: "deep in my heart I still believe..."