DR. KING'S DREAM AND MINE

I'm old enough to remember the day Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave his famous, "I have a dream" speech.  Those were troubled times.

The speech galvanized the nation...finally!  It had been a violent and vicious few years as riots, marches, sit-ins, terrible murders, police dogs attacking people and fire hoses blasting folks to the ground were ALL broadcast on the nightly news around the US.

I was 12 years old and watched our black and white TV in utter amazement.  My friends and I were young, confused and a little frightened.  There were no marches or boycotts in my mid-western town, but we knew the sights represented something terrible going on in other parts of our country.

Terrible and wonderful, because of Dr.King! He preached love and non-violence yet many misunderstood, mistrusted and judged him by his skin color rather than his message.

He stood up for the folks that had been treated as second and even third class citizens.  FREEDOM was the demand, rightfully so. Freedom to live life as every other American citizen with dignity, opportunity and respect was the focus.

FREEDOM!  Granted to us by GOD, yet sometimes NOT recognized by the state or other people for that matter.

Dr. King was the impetus behind many good laws and the change in our culture that finally granted equal rights to people that had been enslaved by bigotry and ignorance.

"Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last."  Dr. King deserves our utmost respect.

I have a dream!  It is much like the good preachers.

My dream is that a grass roots movement will form AGAIN and rise up against MODERN DAY SLAVERY.

I believe it will take an effort the size of the Civil Rights Movement to bring about FREEDOM for the millions of men, women and children that are RIGHT NOW being held against their will by force,  fraud, and coercion in the deep, dark world of Human Trafficking.  It's right under our noses, rooted in every community across the land, sometimes in homes and high schools.

That world of drugs, weapons, trucks transporting people up and down our highways, storage buildings holding young girls, pornography, selling children,  men working in landscaping, women held in massage and nail parlors, and 32 BILLION dollars exchanging hands goes unnoticed most of the time. Yet, I read articles of girls found, men released, and children rescued EVERY day in our local newspaper. (The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are engaged but often outnumbered.)

It's being exposed, but way too slowly, even though there are hundreds of respectful and powerful non-profit organizations drawing attention to the need for rescue, restoration and redemption. 

The greed and need of white men with discretionary income drives the industry. Prolific pornography starts the whole process.  (I hate to write those words, yet cannot gloss over the facts!)

Yes, we've come along way since the days of Dr. King. I truly believe that in most areas of our nation people ARE judged individually by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.  But, we still need a national movement that will compel people to stand up and say NO to the practice of selling, using and throwing away human beings as worthless trash.  As a NATION, we are lacking "content of character" proven by the fact that we allow Human Trafficking to thrive.

What can we do now? (A few ideas!)

Educate men and boys of the danger of pornography and the fact that it is NOT a victimless recreational sport. Insist that your church hold meetings to talk about it!

Educate yourself and everyone you know about the facts!  Read books and watch documentaries. Google Human Trafficking, pick an organization that is fighting it, study the issue and support ANY legitimate effort. Every agency, non-profit, and volunteer MUST be successful.

Be ready to spout out the facts to anyone that will listen, even if they don't want to HEAR!

PRAY that those held will find a way of escape.
PRAY for those in law enforcement, that they will be protected and successful in their efforts to find and arrest the criminals.

Take care of the children in your life. (No sleep overs,  no trips to public bathrooms alone, teach them of stranger danger AND RELATIONSHIP DANGER. Teach them that it is OK to be rude when anyone forces them to do something against their will. Teach them to TELL.)

Teach children and teens of Internet safety. (They must NEVER agree to meet someone they've met online.) Be a snoop! Check their computers, ipads and phones for questionable Internet sites.

Support legislation that affects the prosecution of traffickers and recruiters.

Support safe houses with your time by volunteering and with your money as you can.

Lobby to change the laws so women arrested for prostitution can have their record expunged. (A prostitute is a VICTIM, not a criminal.)

Put the HT hot line number in your phone and call if you even suspect foul play.
888-3737-888  Report suspicious activity and let law enforcement check it out.

We have some terrible things going on AGAIN.  Perhaps we need another like Dr. King to lead the charge!

Where is he?

REMEMBERING THE CELLAR DOOR

Yesterday I received an e-mail from a woman at the Upper Room Magazine.  That was highly unusual, even though I've written several devotionals for them over the past couple of years, they don't usually request anything other than permission to publish.

This was different!  They are going to publish an article I wrote about the security our family felt in  the "root cellar" during threatening weather when I was a child.  The magazine wants to print a PICTURE of the root cellar.

I went on the hunt in the "picture closet" and after about 20 minutes of digging, found this! 

There is it!!! In all it's glory!

My grandfather is posing with the two "delights" of his heart.  I am 7 years old here, looking a little pouty because evidently I'd just trimmed my bangs myself and was sporting a rather angular look.
My sister is holding her Bible, so this must have been taken on a Sunday morning before heading out to church.

In the background is the cellar door! Notice the mound on the horizon with the ventilation pipe sticking up out of the dirt. 

Now THIS safe place is VERY DIFFERENT than the ones being installed in our neighborhood these days. It was lined with shelves filled with potatoes and canned goods a few old rickety chairs and was home to various types of spiders.  It was dark, damp and dirty.  And during scary wind storms it became the place for the family of 5, (me, my sister, grandmother, grandfather, & bachelor uncle)  to take refuge and play games!  My granny was a fun activities director with "simon says" and  "singing contests."  Only my grandfather was aware of the threat of being blown away,  we were just having fun after being routed out of warm beds to make the cold, windy, rainy race to the cellar door.  Bad clouds always seemed to appear in the middle of the night.

The root cellar has long since been filled in with dirt, it no longer harbors frightened men and giggling girls. The spiders have moved on. It's just a memory now.

SO....we'll see if the magazine wants this picture!  No one ever dreamed that ANYONE would be interested in that ancient memory!

By the way, exactly WHEN did I become the person of "ancient" memories?
Am I no longer that little girl with the crooked bangs???