Early Morning, April 4…

Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride
 
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
 
This turned up on my workout playlist this morning while I was pumping on the indoor bike. What timing!
 
I’ll never forget the first time I heard those U2 lyrics. Who can? It’s from The Unforgettable Fire. Right after the bridge, the final verse. OMG! The passion. The emotion. The indictment, white people!
 
Never mind the historical error.
 
The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior was assassinated on the stoop of his Memphis hotel room right around dusk in the evening of April 4, 1968.  
 
Over 50 years ago. Hard to believe it’s been that long. 
 
Even harder to believe—U2 released The Unforgettable Fire on October 1, 1984 and Pride was the first single released from (what we used to call) the “album.” 
 
Especially if you’re of a certain generation, I’ll be surprised if you don’t remember the song. MTV was still very new, and the video is on YouTube. The YouTube offices were a scene of gun violence a few years ago right around this same time.
 
This week of course, more gun violence. It’s not always racially motivated—and it’s become so de rigueur, so commonplace, according to the website https://www.gunviolencearchive.org, there are 3 pages of incidents of gun violence in the USA just on Monday, April 4, 2022. Whoa! 
 
What continues to hurt even one of us hurts us all.
 
In 1984 this band, U2, was just about to explode across the world. The Joshua Tree was still a couple years in the distance, but they were already well on their way. Live Aid probably pushed them over the top. But this song Pride got everyone’s attention—demanded everyone’s attention.
 
The song still resonates today. Don’t kid yourself that “we’ve come so far” on race in the United States. Clearly, we have not. We’ve barely moved the needle!
 
My whole doctoral project dissertation was about fostering what MLK called “Beloved Community.” If you’re curious, it’s called: Doing Beloved Community: Building Relationships in Public Squares.
 
Dr. King’s words continue to challenge us: the Beloved Community is a vision where “all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.”
 
I know we think we’re trying, white people, but we’re not even close. Having said that, I have to say that this church, FPC, is pretty “woke.” Some of us describe our church as “traditional” and we are about some things. But not about this. 
 
We are pretty woke, welcoming, aware of the diversity in our community, and aware of our privilege. I brag on you all the time. 
 
Right here from our little corner of the world, it feels like we’re just trying to keep the dream alive. 
 
Grace & Peace,
Scott