tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158536.post113743404413545730..comments2007-04-15T22:44:47.842-07:00change2008http://www.blogger.com/profile/05918154071364229941noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158536.post-1137437639925658632006-01-16T10:53:00.000-08:002006-01-16T10:53:00.000-08:00To feel the loss of Dr. King's clarity of voice, yet not feel despair, to feel frustration at society's fracture, yet not give up the work born of hope...this is what I believe we owe to one another. Dr. King once said that all (people) are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. That we can hear his call over these 40 years with such immediacy tells me to pick up the mantle, accept the questions, the gray, the frustrations, and continue to speak out for togetherness among all people. Some days this just means to push past that moment of discomfort when presented with an opportunity to communicate with someone who seems in some way or another to be from a very different background. Once past the discomfort or embarrassment, there can be a new space where people can at least talk. We often find that whatever may seem invisible about us in the shadow of "mainstream" society, is the thing that will help us know one another, and be less afraid to bridge the gap at the next opportunity. Taking this to a larger sphere of public discourse, and connecting with others to effect real, human change, we have a new credibility with one another, a new strength in the network of mutuality that Dr. King ennunciated. We may strain and pull at one another's fibers along the way, but our connection is made stronger, because we can now, so closely joined in that not always comfortable zone, feel one another's experiences more readily, and respond to one another more authentically. There is scarcely a day that goes by that I don't reflect on some part of Dr. King's work, but not as a hero who did what no other can do, but as a man who gave from his core, using his rare and precious gifts. He was taken from us when we needed him badly, but he left so many of his gifts for us. We must make the most beauty with them that we can.jennifer schumakernoreply@blogger.com