because it's his day

 


When we were in Memphis we went to the Lorraine Motel/Civil Rights Museum. This was by far one of the most interesting and moving places I have been in a long time (maybe ever). The pictures you see are out front. The cars are the original vehicles that Martin Luther King and his colleauges/friends drove and the wreath is placed before the spot where Dr. King was standing when he was assassinated. If you've ever seen the movie Elizabethtown you have already caught a glimpse of all this b/c the character visits this site. It is incredible to walk through and read a detailed timeline of the events of Dr. King's life. It is equally tragic to end that timeline standing before a preserved motel room commemorating his last day on this earth. If you've never read that last speech he gave(I've Been to the Mountain Top) I encourage you to do so. It's long so for time sake at least read the last seven little sections. It is so eery...like a primonition.

In ways the events of the Civil Rights movement seem to have happened light-years ago. When I watch videos or see pictures of the way people were mistreated, it is impossible for me to think that those things transpired only one generation ago. In a way, though, here in the deep south, the movement continues on. Sure I know the barrier still exists in other places but here, sadly, it is like a river wide. Such bitterness coming from both sides. Maybe the wounds are still too fresh. Maybe in time it can heal.
What an incredible man. What an awesome dream.

They said one to another behold here cometh the dreamer...let us slay him...and we shall see what will become of his dreams. Genesis 37: 19-20