Swords into Plowshares is the blog of the Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations of the Presbyterian Mission Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Seeking peace. Striving for justice. Together.
August 28 marks the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. A young, 34-year-old Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. set aside his prepared notes to declare “I have a dream.” That dream seems to have been realized in part—but not anywhere near the whole—as events this summer have shown us.
Memories of other long-ago summers bring to mind my son and his best friend in high school, who played in the band and did many teenage things together. Even before cell phones were prevalent, they could always easily both be found either in our house or his. I never really thought about his life as an African American being any different than my son’s.
Christianity is big on equality and justice. Jesus advocated that all people are equal in the eyes of God and deserving of divine justice, a radical idea that got him killed.