Gift of the Spirit

Peace Like A River

“I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river
I've got peace like a river in my soul...”
African American Spiritual

I attended the March for Our Lives rally in Railroad Park, Birmingham, AL yesterday. I was surprised when about 5,000 other citizens of this city showed up—young people, teachers, little kids, dogs on leashes, and lots of old hippies who came to support today's young activists. I saw a Buddhist monk, several Muslim women, and a few courageous local politicians running for office. Several organizations were there to register young, first-time voters. Whatever muscle memory you may have of Alabama—from Letter from the Birmingham Jail, fire hoses, police dogs, and most recently and unfortunately, Roy Moore—let it be known that progress has been made. We have the African American teenagers of the 1960's to thank for that, and the young people of 2017, who organized yesterday's march, acknowledged as much. I can't tell you how my own soul soared to see it. It was a beautiful day, and everything about it went off without a hitch.

We need to experience hope—to allow young people to lead us into the future, because they are our future, too. Just as those who attended the rally in Washington in 1965 to protest the escalation of the war in Vietnam, who sang and put flowers into gun barrels of the National Guard—we, today, need to allow the freshness and fearlessness of youth to show us the way forward. It is the gifts of the spirit they pursue; they want peace and joy and love like a river. On this Palm Sunday, with our palm branches and hosannas, let us follow wherever they lead.

In the Spirit,
Jane