Saturday I went to an all day meeting, where my voice was shaking because of sickness, but I talked a lot. By Saturday evening, I had a very bad throat and couldn't talk at all....Sunday morning was no better.
Now, going to church normally without a voice would be hard; but to celebrate MLK day in a church where the man had an office without a voice proved to be painful. The three congregations that worship in the building all combined yesterday to celebrate the God that Martin served. It was an amazing service; and yet through all the singing I was silent. Reflection is key, i suppose.
My usually quiet partner in DOOR crime, Brian, gave a challenging sermon that I said a silent amen to and was challenged several times. It was his time to shine, and he did!
Our benediction was this:
We now dedicate ourselves to the long and bitter - but beautiful-struggle for a new world. This is our calling as children of God, and our sisters and brothers eagerly wait for our response.
Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full humans, and we send our deepest regrets?
Or will there be another message, of longing, of hope, of solidity together with their yearning, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost?
The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise we must choose in their crucial moment of human history.
(A time to break silence: Declaration of Independence form the War in Vietnam)
It says that if one cannot praise God, rocks will cry out. There were some mighty rocks rocking out for me yesterday.
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