Time for change

During these past couple of days with the MLK Day, the Inauguration of Barak Obama, and hearing one of my new favorite musicians, Heatherlyn, do her dedication to MLK I have been moved, challenged, and put into a great deal of pondering and thought. (That happens regularly so nothing real earth shattering there.) A conversation I had with some folks at a local restaurant resonated loudly with me. I will share that later but some background for me. I have long been intrigued by Black History and Native American History. Something about the atrocities that have happened to them and the resiliency of many people of all races to ensure that we all can learn to appreciate celebrate our similarities and differences has captured my passion.

On Monday I was delivering posters for Heatherlyn's gig at our church when I stumbled upon a couple of folks in a restaurant. I've known these folks for quite some time although not well. I would guess they are Republican based on other conversations I have had with them and as Seinfeld would say.."Not that there is anything wrong with that!" They have heard the band that I sing in a couple of times and asked if I had been singing much. This somehow led to a strange segue to a conversation on whether I had heard any of the music that was performed for Obama on MLK Day. Before I could answer they said they thought it was amazing that Garth Brooks stole the show from all of those "Black" groups. They went on to mention how the crowd responded best to Garth Brooks. I found out they had not watched any of it other than clips on the news which did feature Brooks. I did get the opportunity to watch some of the performances and came away with a much different view of the happenings. While Brooks certainly was well received, (I find it amusing however that it was for performing a Beatles song.) and I am admittedly not a Garth fan (except Garth from Wayne's World) the other performances that I saw were truly wonderful and very well received.

So why do I share this story? Heatherlyn debuted a new song about Climbing Shoes and the mountain that Dr. King started the nation climbing. Obama shared this quote today in his speech, "The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." You see we still have to keep climbing for people of all races, all origins, all income levels, all ages. I have read a couple of books the past few months that have really moved me to action. I'm not sure what all that action is but I can't sit and talk about it any more. I/we must keep climbing. God has called and maybe more importantly given us the tools to conquer the mountain. We are surrounded in our communities, in our schools, in our churches, in our world by people who still don't have the chance to fulfill the promise of peace and, I hesitate to use this word, prosperity. I'm not talking about living in monetary and material prosperity. No it's about prosperity of the heart, prosperity of charity, prosperity of compassion. That is truly life changing, world changing in all its beauty.

While leading a Bible study with some high schoolers from our church we were discussing justice issues and in particular homelessness. After a lengthy and powerful conversation one of the young people looked into my eyes and said Dave are we just going to talk about it or are we going to do something. Put the arrow right between the eyes or maybe more so pierce the heart. That's it, it is easy to philosophize, conversate, read about, and even donate an item from afar. But are we really developing a relationship with those in need or in some ways our Christ. Christ was a true radical in that he didn't just talk, he did, and not with those who were considered "in" no he hung out with the rift-raft of His day. He didn't send a bag of groceries to an anonymous place, he went right to the people in need. We in America have developed a nice cushion so we don't get too close to the hurt around us. This has helped insulate us from seeing our greed and selfishness I believe. Trust me I am as guilty at this as anyone could possibly be. I am going to challenge myself to take the cushion way. We need not just blunt, honest conversations but blunt, honest actions.

We will never perfect this as Christ was the only one who could and did. However, for myself anway, unless I seek this in my life, I will never feel fulfilled, never feel that I have used the gifts given me in the impactful way that God has called me to do. Put on your climbing shoes indeed!