Hero

I didn't start to become that interested in Martin Luther King Jr. or his ministry until maybe two years ago. In school we learned about him only superficially, going only as deep as the high points of his "I Have a Dream" speech, lumping him in with other African American leaders during a week in February (black history month). I found nothing particularly fascinating or overly interesting about him. If what I was taught in school was true, he was an effective civil rights leader during a turbulent time. I really couldn't have told you much more about him.

Then I read a book on inspirational Christian leaders that contained a short (maybe 35 page) biography of Dr. King, his faith, beliefs, non-violent practices, and his passion for all things just, from civil rights to compassion for those in poverty and I got really interested in this revolutionary man. There was so so much more to him than the cursory knowledge I had picked up in school. Dr. King truly was a man who lived out the gospel in its truest form.

It is because of Dr. King that I am able to have the family I have today. And that my sons are brothers, just as he dreamed fifty years ago. And that any of my children can and will marry whoever they choose, not based on race, but based solely on character and love.

In Biblical times, heroes as big as giants seem to emerge page after page - Abraham, Moses, Daniel, David. Men who led their people out of oppression, who wrestled angels, or survived lions, men who led vast armies to victories, or who slayed giant men with a flick of the wrist. Men like that don't seem to come around much anymore. But Dr. King was one of them. He led his people out oppression. He defied his enemies with no more than a speech. He heard God and obeyed. A hero of true biblical proportions, that enacted true justice on earth.