Wednesday, November 5, 2008

How I Got Over!

I'll admit it. I got teary-eyed as I filled out my ballot yesterday. And I shed more than one tear watching the results come in. I woke up this morning and walked outside, and the clouds were all lit up with morning light, and I had to choke back the tears again.

I just kept thinking about what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would think if he were alive. And I thought of all those individual people who stood and marched and fought with Dr. King, many of whom *are* alive today. Did they ever think they would live to see a black man elected president?

I tried to think of words, but I just have to go back to that Mahalia Jackson song I posted last month. The one she sang just before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his I Have a Dream speech.

How I got over
How did I make it over
You know my soul look back and wonder
How did I make it over?

Don't get me wrong. We still have a lot of work to do in this country. We can't just sit back and say, "We did it!" and that's that. But I think for this morning, it's ok to be quiet for a moment and watch the sunlight coming through the clouds. It's a new day.

2 comments:

K. M. Johnson said...

I feel like SHOUTING!

Great post.
KJ

Amy Schimler-Safford said...

It's like they put the oxygen back into the air, it is amazing.