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A promised land

Celebrating MLK Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. would have turned 92 Friday, January 15 had his magnificent life not been cut short by an assassin’s bullet. And while the events of April 4, 1968 in Memphis may have ended his life, it did not silence it. This coming Monday, January 18, we celebrate MLK Day in our nation and at Buckner. 

Pause and remember

MLK Day is a wonderful time for all of us to pause and remember the progress our nation has seen because of the Civil Rights Movement and the work of Dr. King. It’s also a good time to remember as the events of 2020 show, we still have a lot of work to do. The struggle against racial injustice is a struggle we take seriously at Buckner. 

The night before he was killed, Dr. King gave his last speech, what historians refer to as “informal, personal, poignant, and eerily prophetic.” He was in Memphis to support striking garbage collectors as part of the Poor People’s Campaign.

See hope for our future

“Longevity has its place,” he said. “But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

His profound words echo through the years and although Dr. King was addressing issues of racial injustice, his words should also serve as an ointment for the wounds we feel today during a global pandemic that has taken more than 375,000 precious lives in our country from us. We need to have hope for our nation as we see the rollout of the vaccination process. 

God has given us a Promised Land

I pray that as you reflect on God’s plan for your life for 2021, you will find strength knowing there is a Promised Land for us, a land God himself has given to us. During days of uncertainty here on earth, we know God is the master planner and designer and he does indeed “hold the whole world in his hands.”

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or thing, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." -Ephesians 3:20-21

Written by Albert Reyes, president and CEO of Buckner International.

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