Hope Renewed
Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today as we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr., we also celebrate hope renewed. A renewal, I hope, will bring unity of the people in our nation; when united together will work to solve the problems we face.
Being from the state and city (Birmingham, Alabama) which played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement, the renewal of hope is important to our future. A few weeks ago, I met a Priest who is the president of a local inner-city Catholic high school who works everyday to help kids rise above their circumstances to stop participating in gangs. His work has changed the lives of many. To me he is an example of hope renewed.
Early this morning, I went to get the oil changed in my car, and as I was sitting in the waiting room watching the events of the day unfold on news, in walked a Reverend, he was African American. Sitting in the other chair was an older white woman who had moved back to Alabama from New Orleans. I asked the Reverend where he was a pastor and he began to tell me that he was working with three churches each of different denominations. During the course of our conversation, he told me that with his third church, a new church, he was helping a young white preacher there who had sought him out for his help. I said wow...how refreshing. The Reverend quickly said, that time is over. With that statement the conversation turned to the election and how our new President was such an inspiration to all no matter what their skin color. The older white woman also chimed in how inspired she too was with the election. The Reverend also told the story of how he had marched in Selma with Dr. King and how he also was present when the hoses were turned on in Birmingham; but now everything has changed. People have changed, Birmingham has changed. The white woman chimed in again and said that she too believed that people can change as she told the story of growing up in South Alabama and at the time of her childhood, she was brought up in what she called a bubble. She said her life changed dramatically when she moved to New Orleans and had to work with a group of diverse people. She, in her own words, said that she had changed.
I had no way of knowing when I awoke this morning a simple trip to get the oil changed in my car, would result in my meeting two people that I would have such an inspirational and significant conversation with about the Civil Rights Movement, the election and how both events affected and changed all three of us for the better.
Hope Renewed.
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