Today, April 4, 2023, was the 55th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I joined a prayer vigil at MLK Plaza in Houston at the invitation of my friend Carl Davis from Wesley AME Church. It was good to see Rebecca Shields (Christ the King Houston) there too. I was one of several pastors invited to offer prayers. I included a couple of scriptures:
Then Joseph’s brothers said to one another, “Here comes the dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and say that a wild animal has devoured him, then we shall see what will become of his dreams.”
Genesis 37:18-20t
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like water
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Amos 5:23-24
A cool breeze began to blow as we gathered for prayer.
When I got up to pray, I looked down and saw the letters etched into the pavement under my feet: “We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality…” words from King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, a letter written to white ministers, who complained he was moving too fast, and should be more patient. It seemed like a sign.
I got to visit with a few legends of black history in Houston.
Bishop Michael Rinehart 