This is an excerpt of what I posted to my Women Who WOW members this morning… and a bit more.
I love today because it is a reminder of a man who…
Saw a future that didn’t exist,
A “normal” that he’d never seen or heard of,
A future that was VERY different than his daily reality…
He saw it, BELIEVED it, and WORKED into it.
I love it because he was an imperfect, flawed man who literally changed a nation.
He didn’t just have a DREAM,
He had a MISSION
Which he took seriously.
And thank God he did.
So, this morning, I’m totally immersed in gratitude for this man, but also — as always — struck by the fact that he.. like us… had no super POWER. He just had a super resolve.
I am often amazed when I consider that he didn’t know how this was going to turn out. When we study history, we often forget that. We forget that these people had no guarantees, but plenty of their own FEARS and insecurities. They had a family to consider, careers they may have been risking. History is made by people who saw a future that had NOT and had NEVER been created… and decided to CREATE that future, with their OWN blood, sweat, and tears.
I am afraid we often clean up history…
Because we know how it turned out.
But each time MLK Jr. was mocked,
Discouraged,
Demeaned,
REMINDED of the current reality…
Each time he was hit,
Jailed,
And threatened…
He didn’t know.
He had NO way of knowing.
He didn’t know the success his risk and resolve would create.
He didn’t know we’d have a NATIONAL HOLIDAY named after him.
All he knew…
Was that he saw a future
That did not YET exist,
And with NO guarantee
But with absolute conviction,
He took a step after painful, risky step
To create that future.
He led protests,
not chanting popular rhetoric
whilst being PROTECTED by the police.
Oh no,
he led REAL protests…
with clear intent and imminent risk.
He was beaten,
Spit on,
Arrested
Jailed and more…
But NOTHING stopped him
Except
His own
Death.
Today,
In HIS honor,
I’d like to pause and consider
What WE allow
To stop US
from fulfilling OUR mission.
May we ALL proceed with the heart, the persistence and the love of this man today…
P.S. if you want to peek behind the curtain of Women Who WOW for a week… for free. If you’ve been on the fence about joining us, message me. I’ll pop you into a list that will deliver WOW to your door for a full week.
