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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodist News |
January 2002 |
A Letter to Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dear Martin,
What a year 2001! No event since your death has had so deep an impact on me as that which occurred on September 11th. I write this letter with a huge hole in my heart.
Martin, on that day an unprecedented terrorist attack took place on the Pentagon, the World Trade Center in New York City, and an apparent aborted attack on Washington, D. C. when a plane crashed in Pennsylvania. The result, more than 5,000 persons were killed.
While viewing a morning news show, I witnessed one of the airplanes crash into a tower of the World Trade Center. Nothing prepared me for such a sight.
I continue to grieve for all the families, friends and loved ones of those lost, including hundreds of police and firefighters who were killed in an early rescue effort.
Sadly, thousands of bodies may never be recovered, and remain in the rubble of the World Trade Center.
The horror of it all, and subsequent United States response to the attack escalated the suffering.
God must weep!
This tragedy is a dramatic reminder of the depth of hate and ill will in the world, and in the minds and hearts of so many.
Martin, I still remember the powerful illustration in your book, Where Do We Go From Here? You recalled the plot of an intended novel found among the papers of a deceased author. The plot: "A widely separated family inherits a house in which they have to live together."
Martin, in many ways and places the human family remains separated. Separated by centuries of hatred and hostility, prejudice and bigotry, greed and exploitation. The unyielding reality is we share a common "house", the globe, a nation, state, city or community. We must and will live together.
In the United States, we continue to be challenged by the question of how a diverse and separated family will live together. Race and, increasingly, class are the barriers separating the "family."
The institutional barriers of race separation continue to fall. In many ways we witness achievements in race not even imagined three decades ago. But the heart barriers remain. Sadly, they appear in each succeeding generation. New racists, if you will, emerge. Thus, progress and achievement are tainted by some measure of retrogression.
Martin, while the anniversary of your birth is observed all across the nation -- that in itself a remarkable achievement to celebrate -- we will be reminded of ways in which we are a better America. Yet sadly, there will be ample evidence in community, and even in the Church, that "The Dream" is yet to be fully realized.
Perhaps no words are more appropriate than yours to conclude this letter:
"In spite of the tension and uncertainties of this period, something profoundly meaningful is taking place. Old systems of exploitation and oppression are passing away; new systems of justice and equality are being born. In a real sense this is a great time to be alive. Therefore, I am not yet discouraged about the future. Granted that the easygoing optimism of yesterday is impossible. Granted that we face a world crisis which leaves us standing so often amid the surging murmur of life's restless sea. But every crisis has both its dangers and opportunities. It can spell either salvation or doom. In a dark, confused world, the Kingdom of God may yet reign in the hearts of men." (all)
Martin, I am confident that We shall overcome, because indeed, we are overcoming!
Happy Birthday!
Woodie
January 2002
Last updated on January 14, 2004