Many of us have heard or used the phrase, “the moment of truth”. Some of us have experienced moments of truth in our lives, as did Rev. Charles Billups and the children of Birmingham, AL in May 1963 who faced dogs, clubs and fire hoses at the command of then Police Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor. Their moment of truth was when the Birmingham policemen stood petrified as they realized that the children were ready to use nothing but their bodies against the clubs, hoses and dogs that faced them.
The moments of truth as did Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on many occasion, but in April of 1967 when he spoke against the War in Vietnam. Perhaps, you can consider President Reagan in his speech at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin in 1987, “Tear Down This Wall”. That was a defining moment of his presidency. You may recall the NYC Firemen’s orders to go into the WTC, it was a defining moment for the firemen and policemen and all who died that day. The dictionary defines a “Moment of Truth” as a moment at which one’s character, courage, skill, etc., is put to an extreme test. We all will have our own moments of truth in life, some may not be as grand or revered as the examples given, but we all will have them.
It was the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that stood out to me the most this year as I listened to his sermon, “Paul’s Letter to the American Christians”, he says, “…don't despair if you are condemned and persecuted for righteousness' sake. Whenever you take a stand for truth and justice, you are liable to scorn.” It was this sermon coupled with my revisiting Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) that I came to grips with this quote. I realized that I felt despair, because of several stances I took this year in telling the truth and giving my honest point of view out of love to people that I thought would understand.
This year was a good year in spite of my brief battle of despair. I got to strengthen my relationships with friends. I didn’t physically get to see them all, but they were all present in my life by their words of comfort, laughter and memories.
Another personal highlight for me this year was to see the people of America take a stand for justice and truth in government. I won’t go any further, just read the commentaries titled, “Think Before You Vote”, “Last Statements” and “I have a New House and It’s Blue”.
The world lost a lot of notable people this year. As you can imagine, I was deeply sorrowed by the death of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. The world of Music and entertainment lost some of its influential figures such as Lou Rawls, Don Knotts, Aaron Spelling, Gerald Levert, Steve Irwin, Ed Bradley and the most recent being James Brown. (I still can’t believe that Soul Brother Number 1 is gone.) The world of Politics lost two of its influential figures in the death of President Gerald Ford, one of the last Good Republicans. He would be one of the few republicans that was honest and had integrity that wasn’t polarizing as a Bush, Cheney and even a Clinton. The world also another influential figure in the execution of Saddam Hussein. Although Saddam’s influence was negative in its nature, they all had their moments of truth.
So, I ask you to take the time and consider what will be your moment of truth? The small moments we all may experience in life and the ultimate moment of truth we all must answer. Live in truth, live for justice and live in love so that when it’s your moment of truth history can record that you lived a life a truth, justice, righteousness and of love.
Goodbye 2006!
