I have never considered myself a political person, although I was the president of my eighth grade class AND my fourth grade 4-H club (what did those H’s stand for again??). I don’t want to write about political issues. There are so many things happening in our country that we all have deep concern for. What I do want to write about is change. Aside from all the things we do and do not agree with in terms of politics, something monumental has happened in our history today that I would like to take a moment to acknowledge. Last night, before I went to bed, I read through some of my favorite Martin Luther King Jr. speeches as is my own personal MLK Day tradition. He has been a hero of mine since childhood because of his tireless work in the business of fighting for the right thing in a time when no one else seemed to recognize it as right. He was fighting for equality, for the recognition of dignity in every man, woman, and child regardless of race or religion. Martin Luther King, Jr. ultimately lost his life right in heavy pursuit of the dream he had had. And this morning, I saw Dr. King’s close friend and contemporary, Rev. Joseph Lowery (a man who was beaten during the non-violent protests of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s alongside King) giving the benediction at the presidential inauguration, praying blessing and provision over the first African-American president of the United States of America. I was moved to tears when Obama referred to himself as the son of a man, who sixty years ago, would not have been served at a local restaurant (because of the color of his skin), now standing before the 1.4 million people present in D.C. as the President of the United States. Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about going to the mountaintop, seeing the promised land, the coming of the glory of the Lord. I wish he were alive to see what I saw today. I think we have come to that place as a nation where the tides of racism and hate are finally turning, where lines drawn between people groups are dissolving, where equality in the minds of the people is more real than ever. I look at a black family moving into the White House, a home that was built while their ancestors were still slaves in this country, and I am forced to believe that things do change. But, they don’t change by themselves. They don’t change with speeches or icons. They change with the individual’s commitment to what is right in a tireless and determined effort that has the power to stay, to remain, even in rejection and despair. Things change when people hold on to hope that God has a plan to change them…”that those who hope in the Lord are never disappointed.” And there are still things that need to change. In our lives, in our nation, in our world. Sometimes I think that we get closer as we move farther away and vice versa. We will be faltered until we get to heaven and it is essential that while we are still here we continue to fight for change, to be a voice for the voiceless and oppressed. Today I am filled with hope for that task at hand because I see how God raises up the ruins. I see how He takes death and resurrects it to glory. I see that with this historic election, one that we can’t fully feel the weight of without living through the pains of our nation’s troubled past, healing has come to a very deep wound in the heart of this country. And so I have hope that every wound can be bound, every broken thing mended by the One who has a plan to heal. Let’s continue to pray for our country, for our leaders, for continued hope in the Lord and the power He has to change… the world, this country, and our own hearts. Peace. ~KP

2 Comments to “How Things Change”

1. KatyJanuary 27th, 2009
   

   I pledge my Head to clearer thinking, my Heart to greater loyalty, my Hands to larger service and my Health to better living. President of my 4-H club too!!! Haha!

2. Bethany LoupeJune 15th, 2009
   

   Kelly, you should definitely write a book. I love your outlook on things..if only everyone thought like you did.

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