Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today our nation celebrates the prophet, Martin Luther King, Jr. In the early and mid- sixties, I was in college at a denominational school in Oklahoma. I watched the news and knew a little about Dr. King’s work. In my hometown, as well as in the community where the university was located, there were very few African Americans. In a sense I was isolated and shielded from what was happening. When I graduated the University and moved to Southern Seminary in Louisville, I was no longer shielded. Some students and faculty from the Seminary were much involved in the open-housing marches in Louisville. I became involved with an inner-city mission. I saw the conditions in which African American families lived. I heard their stories of discrimination. I knew them personally. I began to recognize my prejudices and ignorance. I joined the Louisville open-housing marches. I began to learn from Martin Luther King, Jr. and he introduced me to Gandhi. My spirituality was growing from just a personal and “folk-religion” (what my “folks” taught me) to becoming both socially active and interfaith. I try not to isolate and shield myself from what is happening in our city, nation, and world. I think to become prayerfully concerned and involved is a significant aspect of what Jesus meant when he said “Come, follow me.”