Travel Update

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I was on the road earlier this week and am again today, so this will just be a quick update.

I was privileged to get to travel to northeastern Georgia last weekend. I got to spend the night with two of our former students from Asbury, Kelly and (Doctor!) Michelle VanDellen in Athens, where Michelle teaches and does research at the University of Georgia. It was awesome to reconnect with them and reminisce with them. Going through the old yearbooks, I was reminded again how many incredible students we had at Asbury in the Class of '02. Kelly and Michelle also introduced me to Wii Fit and to Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (I know, I'm ridiculously behind the times on that).

I also got to do just a little sight seeing. In Atlanta, I visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Site, which includes MLK's grave alongside Coretta Scott King's and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, though it was closed for refurbishing.

It was interesting--and a little heartbreaking--to read the historical accounts, watch the video and view the photographs in the exhibit center. I found myself wondering what my own attitudes and opinions would have been if I'd have been old enough to know what was going on in the early '60s. I'm doubtful that I'd be on the right side of that conversation, unfortunately. I have vague recollections of being an 8-year-old in 1968 and thinking that maybe George Wallace was the best choice for president. But, hey, I was only eight. And I did like Muhammad Ali, so I couldn't have been all bad, right?

Two things struck me especially as I toured the exhibits. First, I've always wondered why black ministers seem to be so strident and outspoken on social issues. Sometimes it just didn't seem appropriate or the right priority (I'm not sure how to phrase that) for a minister of the Gospel. One of the exhibits cleared this up for me quite simply: The pastors were generally the only ones in the black community whose income was not dependent on white employers and who were not subject to having their livelihood destroyed by a vindictive boss. Hmmm, that seems obvious now.

Second, I never had heard about the significant role played by young people in the civil rights movement. And by young people, I mean college and high school students, of course, but not just them . . . Children were actively involved in the marches and demonstrations, children as young as third grade were specifically mentioned. Is that unbelievable or what? And why were they involved? Because if the adults got arrested, they would miss work and lose their jobs. If children were arrested, they had no jobs to lose. I'm not sure if I could put my kids in the line of fire that way. I both applaud and question the courage of parents who did.

I also got to visit Toccoa Falls, about 100 miles from Atlanta. I first heard about Toccoa Falls about 30 years ago when a dam burst and sent roughly 40 acres of water rushing over the edge and through the campus of Toccoa Falls College, where it took the lives of about three dozen individuals. Ever since then, I've been interested in seeing the Falls. It's a beautiful setting, though I must confess that it can't match up with Silver Falls near my old hometown of Salem, Oregon.