Day 220 - Reflection

I remember as a young boy riding to school on segregated city buses.

I remember walking in the local five and dime store in Rome, GA, seeing the signs over the water fountains and rest rooms that said “Colored” and “White.”

I remember seeing the pictures in newspaper stories of the fire hoses, of the snarling police dogs straining on leases.

I remember that speech, “I have a dream…”

I remember the news story on TV showing Robert Kennedy lying mortally wounded on the floor of that hotel floor.

I remember the terrible news story about that terrible day in Memphis.

I remember that day when “Grant Park” meant mad-dog police going berserk with clubs against citizens protesting an insane war.

I remember Detroit burning.

I remember that day in Iowa when I thought this is a day just like the one that happened with Jimmy Carter.

I remember so many things, so many events, so many doubts and a cynicism that said a day like this might never come about.

I hear the chant, “Yes we can!”

I think, maybe this time, in reality, the torch has been passed on from one generation to another.

I only can pray that we may be that beacon, that we may be a city on the hill whose light we cannot hide under a basket, that we may be that example of goodness and justice to the world.

I hope that God may bless America, that we will hold true to his tenets.