Patty Griffin wrote this song about Martin Luther King, Jr. She was inspired by the famous “I’ve Been To
The Mountaintop” speech he gave the night before he died (U2 fans should be
familiar with it!), and you can watch a snippet at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oehry1JC9Rk.
She sings about persevering in the face of huge
obstacles, because Dr. King asked her (and all of us) to join him in his
mission. It could also describe how Dr.
King must have felt during his life, carrying on even when he was discouraged,
especially towards the end of his life. Even
when you’re exhausted and think you can’t do anything else ever, we can all do
a little bit more.
In the past couple of years, I’ve been struggling with how I
live in this world. When I was younger and thought I knew everything, I
used to take more risks. I believed that everything would turn out the way I wanted, and I could
be the most actualized version of myself.
I thought anything was possible. When I found a social justice cause I cared
about, I sacrificed a lot of time to be involved. I was inspired by the stories of activists,
like Dr. King and so many others, who faced arrest, harassment, and death, and
still did what they knew was right.
And then, for too many reasons to discuss, things didn’t
turn out the way I wanted them to. Too
many times, I’ve chosen relative physical and psychological safety – a warm bed to sleep in, food to eat,
nice clothes to wear – instead of considering what path I might need to follow
in order to make a real difference in the world. I want to balance the need to do everything
RIGHT NOW, because life is short, with the need to rest and recharge so I can
do more good over the long run.
I often wonder whether I would be willing to do ANYTHING to
live the life I am supposed to lead. Am I
willing to be radically honest and “authentic,” even if I have trouble finding
a job and I lose some friends? Am I willing
to take a vow of poverty, if that’s what I feel called to do? Am I willing to give my life for a cause
greater than myself? I honestly don’t
know whether I’d be willing to go that far. I
do know that, the more people who get up and get engaged in their communities,
the less of a burden it would be on the far-too-few people who are currently
doing the work. So maybe that’s where I can
put my energy, for now at least – asking people to care more and do more, and
setting a good example by doing it myself.
Dr. King was only 39 when he died. I turn 39 this year. I know that I have a lot of work
left to do, and I want to take more risks again. I want to believe that anything is possible.
#YearlongMixtape
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA6Q5-Ap3o8
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