January 20, 2012
Sister Jane Nesmith: In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Editor’s note: Blessed Sacrament Sister Jane Nesmith, pastoral life coordinator at St. John the Apostle Church in Evansville, was the commemorative service speaker in Tulsa, Okla., Jan. 15 for the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Day. The theme of the event was “All People, All Races, All Religions: The Dream Lives!” Following are excerpts from her prepared text.
Now and then you find the words of a little verse by [Hen-ry David] Thoreau entitled “A Different Drummer” written on wall plaques, banners and greeting cards that say “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. heard the beat of the different drummer when he was asked to lead people into a non-violent protest against injustice. He was just an ordinary man who simply decided that it was time to take a stand against injustice, discrimination and second class citizenship. He truly believed that all people had a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He is often referred to as a dreamer because on the hot Wednesday afternoon of August 28, 1963, at the foot of the Lin-coln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Dr. King proclaimed his own declaration of independence by proclaiming to believe in a dream about racial equality, which would enable his four children to live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
In the spring of 1995, at the home of my employer, I met Mrs. Rosa Parks, the woman who really started the civil rights movement. In December of 1955, Mrs. Parks refused to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Ala. where seats were mandated for Blacks. I asked Mrs. Parks how she had the courage to risk her life that day and she simply said “ Sister, I was just too tired to get up and go all the way back there. It really wasn’t about courage with me,” she said. “ I was just tired.” She was a seamstress, just as my Mom was, and had worked a long hot day on the assembly line.
Somehow she was able to hear the beat of the Different Drummer which allowed her to simply not be afraid to stand alone in the face of injustice. She considered herself just an ordinary person who was willing to risk suffering and pain so that others might be free.
Martin Luther King Jr. is gone because he tried to love everybody. He’s gone because he spoke out against injustice.
He’s gone because he identified with the poor, the marginalized, the disadvantaged. He’s gone because he gathered coalitions to address issues about unemployment, health care, education, crime, housing, and corruption.
He’s gone because he wanted to make a change. He’s gone because he had scary dreams, much like the American dream; dreams about unity and equality, dreams about freedom and liberation, dreams that embraced all people, all races, all religions — and for these he’s gone.
Yes, he’s gone but the reason why we gather today is because the dream lives!
The dream lives because we live. The dream lives because we keep his spirit alive.
The words of Dr. King challenge us to break the walls of isolation existing between all racial, ethnic and religious groups. He challenged us to dispel the uneasiness that Society has made us feel regarding people from different racial and ethnic groups.
Dr. King goes on to further plea with us Americans to be rid of every aspect of segregation; for segregation, he says, is a blatant denial of the unity which we have in Christ.
The dream lives because we are willing to walk by faith and not by sight. Let us look at history with the eyes of faith. Faith shows us that all things are connected and rooted in the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. But where are our leaders today. Who will dream for us? Who will receive the torch for us? If not you, Who? If not now, when?