Years ago, my friend and long-time Camden priest, Father Michael Doyle, asked me a question I’ve not forgotten.
"What’s the greatest compliment Jesus gave humanity?"
I confess I was stumped—never pondering the thought. Jesus shared amazing parables and taught with wise, pithy truisms...healed the sick ....performed some incredible miracles...but compliments?
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant...” Mark 10:43
“She placed the child in the basket and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.” Exodus 2:3
“Really nice car,” I complimented. The young man in the driver’s seat smiled.
“I own it,” he echoed with a sense of pride. “I bought it with money generated from my business.”
The automatic glass doors of the convalescent home flew open. A delightful blast of cool air—which those who reside in the northeast during August fully appreciate—sent a welcome shiver through my body. Hands moist with perspiration, I feebly gripped the slippery pen and signed my name at the front desk.
“....I am also pretty sure that the words social justice are not in the Bible,” revealed the email. “And therefore it’s not biblical.”
“My mind was blown,” revealed the email. “How could people I didn’t know be willing to cover my entire trip?”
I love these serendipitous surprises. It’s the best part of my job. A former student, unexpectedly and unannounced, reaches out to me and—with a deep sense of gratitude—reflects positively on the impact UrbanPromise has on their lives.
Sixty years ago, on April 5th, 1959, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, at the age of 30, delivered a sermon called Shattered Dreams to his congregation at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. I still marvel at its depth and enduring significance.
