Finding Hope and Optimism in the Darkness

Last night, I very much had Mrs. Coretta Scott King on my mind, especially after Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced for attempting to read from a 1986 letter by Mrs.King “that criticized Mr. Sessions for using ‘the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens’ while serving as a United States attorney in Alabama.”  Mr. Sessions is now our Attorney General, though it is not at all clear he will uphold the rule of law fairly for all Americans.

But in these dark hours, I also had her in mind, because we were recently distributing my Mother’s belongings. I knew there were a few letters from Mrs. King in her papers and I had asked my sister to send them to me.  By coincidence, the package with the letters arrived yesterday.

I was particularly moved by one letter Mrs. King wrote as a response to my Mother only a few months after my father’s death in an auto accident.  Mrs. King’s letter is dated, August 4, 1969, one year and 4 months after her husband, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed.

I offer to you her words now as an offering of vision and inspiration, as we face into the challenging days ahead.  “Live each day completely” yet “act as if we will live forever”.  Dream big and act with love! Ultimately this comes with unfailing optimism even from the depths of darkness and tremendous loss.  We have the power to act from our core beliefs, whatever they may be. To use our dis-satisfaction to create what matters most.  Thank you for your voice, Mrs. King.  And for those who would not be silenced in sharing your words last night and today on the Senate floor,   continue to speak truth to power.