“There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
I think it’s notable when you start learning from your kids. I’m talking about facts and figures, that is. I’ve been learning what it’s like to be human from them all along.
Eight-year-old Miss O loves Martin Luther King, Jr.. She’s been coming home with tidbits about him all this past week. “Did you know that Martin Luther King skipped 9th and 12th grade?” she asked.
Or that he was 39 when he died? That he hadn’t actually written the I have a dream speech? It was a response to a question from someone in the crowd.
But one day she came home this week and said, “It’s so sad what happened to him when he marched.”
I prompted, “What do you mean?”
And she continued, “When he marched, they sprayed them with fire hoses. And some people died because they had dogs attack them.”
“Oh,” I affirmed, “that was awful.”
Miss O was about 4 1/2 years old when Black Lives Matter signs appeared in our neighborhood. She asked me what they were about. When I simplistically explained that black people had been treated unfairly by white people, she paused for a moment and said, “I’m glad I’m peach.”
And now almost four years later, she and her classmates marched three miles in 17 degree weather (and believe me, Seattlites are not prepared for 17 degrees) carrying Black Lives Matters sign. Miss O said they got 172 honks.
I’m not wise enough to know what all of this adds up to. But I believe MLK was right all those many years ago when he said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Surprised By Joy 