What does 'free at last' really mean?
On the third Monday in January people nationwide take a moment to acknowledge and remember Martin Luther King Jr. birthday. We plan for months leading up to the day of MLK breakfast events, parades, and special recognition.
Schools, churches and government acknowledge the purpose of celebrating MLK. It seems as if we kick into this moment of remembering the struggle that black people have gone through. We become more aware of the struggle. For the moment we drop our racial boundary walls to feel good about ourselves that we think understand the struggle.
In these moments we talk about feel good things in how we have made great progress with racism and reconciliation; then the weekend and the actual holiday passes and we go back to normal life.
Have we really made progress with racism and reconciliation? Or have we become more sophisticated to work around racial matters that lacks the opportunity for reconciliation.
Free at last? No, because we spend more time in the streets angrily protesting our opinions verses investing our time to understand the struggle that moves us to conviction.
Free at last will become a reality when the church moves from opinion to conviction and stop being the most segregated time on Sunday morning.
Free at last will become a reality when schools and governments move from opinion to conviction of truly understanding the struggle that Martin Luther King Jr and so many other ethnic groups including our white brothers and sisters who paid a price for us all.
Free at last will become a reality when we remember and understand the struggle not just on MLK birthday but everyday through the year.
When we can do those things, "free at last" will no longer be an opinion but conviction of the heart.
Pastor Bob Whitt
Elgin