Justice Journey Day 3
Day 3
We started this day early again...on the journey to Atlanta, we watched a film called "Last Chance for Eden," this movie was about a multicultural and multi ethnic group of people sharing their perspectives and lives with regards to racism, prejudice, injustice and the anger, as well as the frustration related to that. Most of them were forced to become vulnerable at one point or another. They were challenged to address and respond to issues raised during their conversations and dialogues. We discussed a few questions with our seatmates on the bus. During our lunch together, my small group continued this dialogue and took the opportunity to ask some tough questions about personal experiences with racism, prejudice and harassment. I spoke freely, as did several others, in a safe place surrounded by brothers and sisters who were seeking to understand one another. Then, we had the opportunity to hear Dr. Larry Lloyd, President of Crichton College speak on "Justice and Righteousness," These are attributes of God that we must mirror. Justice is how God treats us and Righteousness is how we treat others. Holy living is personal Righteousness, social justice is public righteousness. Righteousness is doing the right thing, while Justice is doing the right thing to others. An additional blessing was being visited by Lili Eldiery, who participated in last year's Justice Journey and spent part of the day with us. From here we went to the Martin Luther King Center and viewed several exhibits, I especially appreciated two quotes from Dr. King - "Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." The other quote was "Love yourself...You are commanded to do that. That is the length of life. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. You are commanded to do that. That is the breath of life. But...there is a first and greater commandment, 'Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind.' This is the height of life. And when you do this you live the complete life." I was probably most impacted by King's time in Chicago, where he encountered racism first hand in Marquette Park. He said that Chicago was the North's most segregated city in America. Two other quotes that challenged me were from people that served alongside Dr. King during the Civil Rights Movement...we are called to begin a renewed life - extending Martin's ministry by working energetically and consistently, individually and collectively, to usher the day of peace with justice, to eliminate poverty and to work for the day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead man, and when white will behave right!" - Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery. The other quote was...the testimony becomes 'what will your legacy be as a result of the work you do in the world? Each person must see himself or herself as having power to contribute to building a better world by first being prepared. Study. Learn. Develop courage and integrity in order to rise to the occasion when needed." - Dorothy Cotton. We closed out our time there with prayer and praise at the tombs of Martin & Coretta King.
We started this day early again...on the journey to Atlanta, we watched a film called "Last Chance for Eden," this movie was about a multicultural and multi ethnic group of people sharing their perspectives and lives with regards to racism, prejudice, injustice and the anger, as well as the frustration related to that. Most of them were forced to become vulnerable at one point or another. They were challenged to address and respond to issues raised during their conversations and dialogues. We discussed a few questions with our seatmates on the bus. During our lunch together, my small group continued this dialogue and took the opportunity to ask some tough questions about personal experiences with racism, prejudice and harassment. I spoke freely, as did several others, in a safe place surrounded by brothers and sisters who were seeking to understand one another. Then, we had the opportunity to hear Dr. Larry Lloyd, President of Crichton College speak on "Justice and Righteousness," These are attributes of God that we must mirror. Justice is how God treats us and Righteousness is how we treat others. Holy living is personal Righteousness, social justice is public righteousness. Righteousness is doing the right thing, while Justice is doing the right thing to others. An additional blessing was being visited by Lili Eldiery, who participated in last year's Justice Journey and spent part of the day with us. From here we went to the Martin Luther King Center and viewed several exhibits, I especially appreciated two quotes from Dr. King - "Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." The other quote was "Love yourself...You are commanded to do that. That is the length of life. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. You are commanded to do that. That is the breath of life. But...there is a first and greater commandment, 'Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind.' This is the height of life. And when you do this you live the complete life." I was probably most impacted by King's time in Chicago, where he encountered racism first hand in Marquette Park. He said that Chicago was the North's most segregated city in America. Two other quotes that challenged me were from people that served alongside Dr. King during the Civil Rights Movement...we are called to begin a renewed life - extending Martin's ministry by working energetically and consistently, individually and collectively, to usher the day of peace with justice, to eliminate poverty and to work for the day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead man, and when white will behave right!" - Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery. The other quote was...the testimony becomes 'what will your legacy be as a result of the work you do in the world? Each person must see himself or herself as having power to contribute to building a better world by first being prepared. Study. Learn. Develop courage and integrity in order to rise to the occasion when needed." - Dorothy Cotton. We closed out our time there with prayer and praise at the tombs of Martin & Coretta King.
posted by Ramiro at 9:41 PM
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