Reposting: Preparation

Diana and I had been talking about taking a Civil Rights tour of Selma and Montgomery, Alabama for several years. She knew it was on my bucket list. She made it possible by sandwiching the trip between visits with her son and daughter-in-law.

Our trip took us into eight states:

1. Ohio
2. Kentucky
3. Tennessee
4. Missouri (Diana’s son’s home)
5. Mississippi
6. Alabama (Our destination)
7. Illinois
8. Indiana

Just Mercy

During the 7½ hour twisting and turning through tiny towns from Dan and Melissa’s in Jackson, Missouri to Selma, Alabama, I read portions of Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, to Diana.

We read into the book throughout the trip … in awe over and over

• at Bryan’s “finding my calling” journey
• his development into a compassionate man and dedicated advocate who goes the extra mile
• at how Bryan gained respect from those who initially rebuffed him, treated him with disdain, or physically abused him

We teared up many times at the stories of pain and injustice he and his clients faced over and over.

My Favorite Part

… came near the end … when Bryan pondered his inner journey.

After more than twenty-five years of fighting for others and witnessing a lack of compassion every single day, he became exhausted and his heart broke. For the first time he realized his life was full of brokenness …. surrounded by tragedy, anguish, and misery. He thought himself a fool to think he could fix situations so fatally broken. He didn’t think he could do it anymore. He considered quitting.

Brokenness

Then a dawning awareness when the true nature of his calling shone through:

“I don’t do what I do because it’s required or necessary or important. I don’t do it because I have no choice. I do it because I’m broken, too. … You can’t effectively fight abusive power, poverty, inequality, illness, oppression or injustice and not be broken by it. … We are all broken by something.”

He went on to reflect …

We have a choice. We can embrace our humanness, which means embracing our broken natures and the compassion that remains our best hope for healing. Or we can deny our brokenness, forswear compassion, and, as a result, deny our own humanity.

~Bryan Stevenson

These words written sometime before his book was published in 2014 are as relevant today in our violent and polarized nation as ever. Thankfully there are people like Bryan who embrace their brokenness and keep on keeping on.

Making a Huge Difference

Bryan didn’t quit. He embraced his broken humanness and went on continuing to live a life that makes a HUGE difference … a positive difference in the world. You can read about it here. 

In 2015 he was awarded the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Non-fiction.

A film based on his book, with Bryan himself executive-producing, was released in theaters on Christmas Day 2019. I’d like to watch it again.

On April 26, 2018, Bryan’s Equal Justice Initiative opened a Legacy Museum and a National Memorial for Peace and Justice.

Our First Stop: Selma

We arrived in time for those delicious fried green tomatoes and shrimp and cheesy grits at Tally Ho.

We were pleased to note a Rotary Club meeting in an adjacent room. Black and white members engaged in warm and friendly conversation following the meeting. A sign of progress and hope!

Thank you, Diana and Penny, for your encouragement to repost. 🙂