Remembering MLK

Today is the day we set aside to remember Martin Luther King, Jr. One needs to keep in mind that this great man was still just a man, he had feet of clay, and he was not perfect.

But he did have a dream, a vision about how things could be different in this country, and he did something about it. But he was not just a social activist, and despite occasional slips along the way, he loved God and had a personal relationship with Him, and he encouraged others to do the same. It was not just about social change and righting wrongs.

I have a little volume, The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Selected by Coretta Scott King, and every year on this day I get it out and thumb through it to remind myself that here was a man who was willing to put his life on the line for what he believed.

So I say to you, seek God and discover Him and make Him a power in your life. Without Him all of our efforts turn to ashes and our sunrises into darkest nights, Without Him, life is a meaningless drama with the decisive scenes missing. But with Him we are able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope. With Him we are able to rise from the midnight of desperation to the daybreak of joy. St Augustine was right – we were made for God and we will be restless until we find rest in Him….

The quote continues with MLK reminding us to

...never forget that there is a first and even greater commandment. “Love the Lord thy God with all the heart and all they soul and all thy mind.” This is the height of life, and when you do this, you live the complete life.

At the moment, of course, we are living through the process of grieving for the death of our son last Thursday, so we still feel very much surrounded by ashes, the sun doesn’t seem to be shining, and we do indeed seem to be going through the routine of daily life as though in a drama with “decisive scenes missing.” But there is also deep within my heart the knowledge that Christ has come to give us life, and give us live abundantly, and that as soon as this season of weeping ends, we will once again experience a daybreak of joy. Right now the presence of Christ within is weeping with us -- He was indeed a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief --  but soon it will become “joy unspeakable and full of glory."

And once again I am overwhelmed by the kind remarks and thoughts and prayers offered by those who have read this blog and have chosen to leave a remark, and also for those who are holding us up but have chosen not to leave a remark. Bless you all.