I love Martin Luther King Day

" You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive...

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."

That is my favorite quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Justino and I found it together on day in Ciudad Juarez, a city that truly made us vertrans of creative suffering. It is a horrible place. As we sat on the bed with filth and danger enclosing in on our little family, we read aloud the legacy of truth that Dr. King left us with his immortal ' I have a dream' speech. We dreamed that day, of being freed. Free to go home. Free to choose what country we live in. Free to decide which is the best place is to raise of our kids. Free to be home for the holidays. Free to visit grandparents on Sunday afternoon. Free of the bondage of the of having to choose between my county and my spouse. Free to CHOOSE for ourselves what our future holds. Free of the unearned suffering that the unearned punishment has placed on our shoulders.

His words changed my heart that day,

For one reason, I think...

He spoke solid truth, and truth applies to everyone regardless of their place in life. No matter what affliction we carry truth can deliver us. That was his message.

"But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force."

Aren't we all opressed sometimes about something? Don't we all have some problem we want to be freed from? I recognize that I am not opressed like my black brothers and sister were all those years ago.

But all the same, everbody hurts sometimes.

And whatever the struggle the answer is the same.

"We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back."

He was a man of God. He knew where the strenghth and the deliverance was coming from.

I am happy to say that our unearned suffering has been redemptive. It has strenghthned us. It has enriched our perscetives. It has sealed us together as a family. It has made us grateful to be together. It has given Justino the oportunity to prove to himself that he can conquer the opression and poverty of his youth and his country, becaue he has found sucess in Mexico. It has taught me about him, and myself, and what is really important. It has taught me more and more who my God is, and that he loves me, and all of us.

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together"

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King Jr.