The Day After Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Instagram was a refreshing stream of MLK’s wisdom, insight, hope and passion yesterday.  I love to see so many of the people I love honoring Dr. King Jr’s legacy.  I’m pleased by what feels like solidarity in hope and vision for our hurting world.  I favor the images that share quotes that dig a little deeper into his speeches and sermons.   The many beautiful multi-colored collages of his portraits stand out to me in the meaning they portray simply through paint strokes.  I am so grateful to all those who shared.  Social media never looked so hopeful. 

 

Our four kids can recite a few lines of the “I Have a Dream” speech.  They can tell you what he stood for and how he died.  They’ve read many picture books, watched, “Our Friend, Martin”, outlined his portrait with glued on macaroni and written their own dream speeches.  They’ve been taught at school and at home.

 
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This year it just didn’t feel like enough to me though, and I’m left the day after feeling unsatisfied.

 
I have talked a big game on social media about race, culture and equality.  I wrote a blog post recently called,  “White Momma with Asian Kids: My Reflections on Race”.  I’ve dropped many words on Instagram about social/racial justice.  I’ve been angry about politics and clicked some fiery “likes” on many raging posts.  I’ve participated in charged conversations about politics, race and immigration.

 

But what of my real life?  

 I still have limited friendships with people of color.

I still tend to shut my brain off and close a conversation when I strongly disagree. 

I have written zero letters concerning racism, immigration or unjust legislation (regardless of the standing president).

I have called zero representatives.

I have never marched. 

I have never voted in primaries.

I have not invited anyone to our table who thinks too differently.

  

Thankfully, I can report that I’ve taken some steps.  I see now that being “color blind” is not the goal.  I’ve added some more voices to my Instagram feed.  I don’t follow all white people on FB.  My music is more diverse and global, and I’ve sought to read more authors of color. My podcast subscriptions have expanded.  Using my voice is not something I avoid.  In fact, I could easily pat myself on the back and call myself rather enlightened.  But I know better. 

I want to go deeper.   

What’s next for me?  I don’t want to be afraid of digging in further, and I hope you won’t either. 

I don’t want to assume that my kids are all set with appreciating, and finding value, in all human beings.  I’ll never be off the hook with leading their hearts and minds toward love.  My highest calling in this fight is to teach my kids.  I’ll always keep looking for new places to take them, images to show them, prayers to pray with them, new experiences to give them, and new conversations to have with them on, and beyond, MLK Day. 

Even though I am a white, middle class, busy mom with all kinds of limitations, I want to make an impact beyond my parenting.  How else might I bring some more love into the world?  How might I stand against hate? 

All I know to do is to pray the prayer that Martin Luther King, Jr. so often voiced in his sermons and speeches, “Use me, God.”  I trust that He has work for me to do right here in my scope of influence, in my neighborhood, and in our family’s little world.  All I can do is consider what I can offer.  I can pray every day to help me see how to show His love.  If I determine my gifting is my words and my hospitality, then I want Him to use those things.   I want to write, share and host.  I want to expand who pulls up a chair to my table.

The step I feel called to next is to engage, invite and listen.  I’ve really wanted to “unfriend” some folks lately.  But I am not going to, because that is the opposite of what I think Dr. King might have wanted.  My tendency is to either shut down or use fighting words with people who disagree with me.  Other times I shrink back, because who am I to make change?  But, that’s just contributing to more inertia.  Anger, guilt and silence don’t help our situation.  I need relationships with people who are not just like me in appearance, background and thinking.

As much as I’d like to, I can’t tidy this up with a ten point task list that will reconcile the races.  All I know is what I see making a difference.    Storytelling.  Experiences.  Service.  Voting.  Travel.  Relationships.  Prayer.  Exposure.  Breaking bread together. Listening.  Love.  Those are weighty action steps that I am going to choose. 

Mostly, I’ll just keep asking, “Use me, God.”  And then I’ll be ready for what He places within my reach.

“We have before us the glorious opportunity to inject a new dimension of love into the veins of our civilization.”  -Martin Luther King Jr.