This Mighty Stream Won't Be Dammed
"The River That's Hard to See" Is Not So Hard to See After All
It wasn’t planned, but it turned out to be a timely and inspiring pilgrimage. I was in Atlanta this week as the United States Supreme Court destroyed affirmative action efforts in education, a sad move that will diminish the civil rights of Americans. If you are a reform passed during the American Right’s hated 1960s, I’d keep your head down.
But, it won’t stay down for long, because I believe the message of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. displayed on the fountain at his grave. “We will not be satisfied until Justice rolls down like water and Righteousness like a mighty stream.” That’s where I found myself today. I also sat quietly in the old Ebenezer Baptist Church where King preached. You should do that sometime.
Throughout history, authoritarians of all kinds have underestimated the human love of freedom. It’s real freedom we’re devoted to, not the freedom to follow orders or stand meekly deep in the hierarchy. Tyrants define “freedom” as that sort of passive, false contentment to justify placing themselves on top.
The love we cherish really does roll down like a mighty stream. It’s why the baby tyrants of America go to such lengths today to try and dam the river, by building walls and burning books, by erasing voting rights, by trying to make us less than full citizens enjoying equal rights in a democracy.
Their efforts never work for long.
Now, it’s true that sometimes we forget. As they watched English lords burn their homes and steal their land, Celtic Christians spoke of the waters between us and paradisiacal freedom as “the river that’s hard to see.”
As I sat in Ebenezer Baptist Church today, a sacred site for sure, I noticed the painting behind the altar. There it was, the River That’s Hard to See, but it’s not so hard to see after all.
The river sings with much more eloquence than the broken tongues of America’s authoritarians. It’s another reason they try to silence us. They can’t sing. And we can.
King also knew we needed a guide to what we couldn’t see. That’s why he went to the mountaintop to see the Promised Land. I was lucky to have a few moments of silence in Ebenezer at the end of this week. Not a bad way to begin the Fourth of July weekend. Rivers last so much longer than fireworks.
I must mention that while at Ebenezer today I learned that Dr. King’s sister Christine had just passed away. I’m happy I happened to be there when I heard. May Christine King Farris rest in peace.