Selma

Matthew 6:25-33New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

I chose this verse today actually because I just got back from seeing "Selma" this weekend, and today (as I write this) is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In the film, Ralph Abernathy quotes this verse to King when they are in jail and Martin is telling Abernathy how tired he is of the constant battle toward civil rights.

With this quote, Abernathy urges him onward and King's momentary shake up of faith passes.

I don't know if in real life it happened this way. There's been a lot of fuss about what is or isn't accurate in the film, "Selma."  Too much fuss I think.  Can't remember a historical film I've seen that was completely accurate.

What I walked away with from this film wasn't an image of LBJ that was clouded by how he was portrayed in the film. 

Instead what I walked away with was a feeling that I'd just seen as great a depiction of faith as I've seen in a long time on screen.  And it moved me beyond measure.  The church, and religion in general, gets a lot of bad press these days it seems.  And yet in this film, I saw how faith of regular, normal people literally moved mountains.

I saw a man - and many men and women - strive first for the kin-dom of God, ahead of their own desires, comforts, and safety.

What do I have to worry about?

What indeed.

Thank you, Dr. King, for not only your service, but for your faith that moved mountains.

Lord, thank you for your servant Martin Luther King, and may his faith be a example to us all.  Amen.