dar334

As I’m sitting at my desk this morning there seems to be a lull in the needs of the customers and the team members of this small business.  I have written up several service calls and made my way through the numerous emails in my inbox.

As the paperwork shuffle began, I started pondering Martin Luther King Jr.  He popped in my mind as I thought about the many places that are closed today in observance of his birth in 1929.   First and foremost, there would be no mail delivery.  To be embarrassingly honest, in my entire life, I’ve had no respect for MLK Jr.  As I sat here thinking about yesterday’s worship service and what our Pastor shared with us involving Mr. King, I started thinking about how shallow the reasons for my feelings were; they stemmed from the prejudices of a man I had nothing but admiration for, my Dad, God bless his soul.  I’m not going to judge his prejudices, I didn’t walk in his shoes and it isn’t my job to judge; I honor and respect him despite his shortcomings.

With the help of a little maturity, and God sending our Pastor to the building I worship in, I decided it was time to expand my knowledge of MLK Jr so off to google I went.  The first thing that caught my attention after typing his name into the search box was located on the right side of my computer screen; one color photo, some black and white photos of Mr. King and some basic information.  My feelings softened a little when under his name was “American Minister”.

Mr. King was born January 15, 1929 in Atlanta Georgia and died on April 14, 1968 in Memphis Tennessee.  He was assassinated.  Assassinated.  Someone took it upon himself to decide when Mr. King would die, and that was on April 14, 1968.

As my mind wandered to my readings in the Bible where Jesus told his disciples they would suffer for spreading His word, I searched and found this verse in Matthew 24, verse 9:  “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.”  

I haven’t the time right now to find out more about Mr. King, but I did read that the man that pulled the trigger was a racist.  Mr. King was fighting for the rights of human beings.  Human beings created by God, just as I was.  I read a portion of his last sermon on April 3, 1968, in Memphis, and I’d like to share it with you:

“We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop…And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”

My opinion of Mr. Martin Luther King Jr. changed today.  I think I will download one of his books and read it.  Perhaps I can make a difference in how someone else views Mr. King as my Pastor sparked my interest in changing my view of him.

In closing, this spoken by Mr. King is worth sharing, and hopefully will make you do some pondering:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Rest in Peace Mr. King.

Always pondering,

dar