I Salute Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Monday, January 15, 2007 was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day which actually fell on his birthday this year. I'm too young to remember Dr. King but I'm not to old or young to salute him. In school they teach you the highlights of who he was and what he did for the struggle for civil rights in America. Every year you learn of his humble beginnings, his great intelligence, his eloquence and his sacrifice. You learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, and his assassination. You hear his famous "I have a Dream Speech and the end of his Promised Land speech.

On Monday morning on the way to the gym for my early morning workout I was blessed to be able to hear that final speech made on April 3, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee in it's entirety. I was moved almost to the point of tears and surely to the point of a few Hallelujah's. It inspired me to actually want to read the book that he talked about writing in that speech. It made me reflect on how fleeting our lives are and how important it is to make the most of every opportunity. It made me think about how much has changed and how little has changed since 1968. The biggest change is that we no longer have people who are willing to stand up for what is right even if it hurts, and to speak for those that the world would rather pretend does not exist. Not even the blacks and minorities exclusively but the poor every where, cause it doesn't even really matter in America if you're black or white but really just if you're rich or poor, for that is what truly determines if you're weak or poor.

What I Believe!

I'll just start by saying it is very important for each person to know what they believe. In my church it has often been said, "If you don't stand for anything, you will fall for anything." I took this to mean know what you believe and noone will be able to fill your head with their beliefs to your down fall.

Any way, I haven't felt like saying much lately, indeed I even missed the boat on an entry about my reflections on 2006, but today I got a video from one of my favorite deacons at my church about Oprah's view on Jesus and an entry rose up in my soul. I have to say that I'm not at all surprised. Oprah does a lot of good things, indeed she seems to be consumed with doing good. Is that a bad thing, of course not, or then maybe, if it's done for the wrong reasons I believe even a good work can then be a bad thing. In the video she stated that Jesus can't possibly be the only way to God. I know there are people all over the world of different faiths and I respect their right to believe whatever they choose to believe, but I'm a Christian so according to what I believe that statement is just plain wrong.


I actually watch Oprah fairly frequently and it always disturbs me that she never seems to say God or Jesus. She'll often refer to the feeling you get when something is dreadfully wrong, I believe in that, except I've learned to call that feeling the Holy Spirit. She talks of a higher being, I believe in that too, I call Him God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And she gives credit often to people for the heroic deeds they do, but never to the power of God that gave them strenght, encouragement or foresight to do what they did. I notice these things regularly and they bother me.


Every morning on my way to the gym since the start of the New Year, Steve Harvey has said over and over, get closer to God in 2007. Which is wonderful for me, because that is exactly what I had already decided was my task for this year. I was baptized 22 years ago and have felt both near and far from God during that time. Lately I have felt on the far side so I decided 2007 would be dedicated to Worship and Study. Then I realized that was incomplete and I also needed to add Prayer to that list.


All of us come to Jesus in different ways, in that respect Oprah was right there are different paths. Your path might be a street revival or an eMass or a Hip-Hop Church. Anything that gets you to Jesus. I pray for Oprah and others who don't really know Him to meet Him in 2007. Once you meet Him, you'll know there is nothing else like Him.

That is what I believe.