|
 Attendees were served a large buffet style
breakfast, which was followed by a program of inspirational words
and song.
To begin the morning, Reverend Glenn Shelton, a long term central
figure in the breakfast, provided the invocation. Lincoln College
president John Blackburn welcomed everyone celebrating King’s vision
and people coming together. He noted the scholarship helps
recipients have access to a college education. Since its inception,
the breakfast has raised over $30,000 for the Martin Luther King
Minority Endowed Scholarship for Lincoln College.
Lincoln College student Jermaine Sanders thanked donors and
community leaders for their contributions to the scholarship. His
remarks were followed by the songs by Second Baptist youth choir.
 Master of ceremonies Gary Davis then introduced the 2014-2015
scholarship recipient Rhiniqua Carter. Carter is a 2013 graduate of
Lincoln Community High School who chose Lincoln College ‘to begin
her education journey.” After graduating from Lincoln College, she
plans to continue her education at Illinois State University “with
the ultimate goal of becoming a nurse anesthetist.” She said that as
a Lincoln College student, “I have grown each semester due to my
professors who have stretched my abilities.” Carter thanked her
parents for their support and said she was “very honored to receive
a scholarship. . .it means a lot to me.”
Following Carter’s remarks, the Lincoln College Chorale sang
“Imagine.”
Loving one’s enemies
The morning’s keynote speaker was Chaplain Henry M. Johnson who
shared thoughts drawn from King’s writing “Strength in Love” on
loving one’s enemies. Johnson said that many years ago while
traveling with his family, he stood on the steps of Washington
D.C.’s Lincoln Memorial looking out into the reflection pool and
pondering Martin Luther King’s timeless “I Have a Dream” speech.
Johnson wondered with all the violence going on in the world today:
Is it a dream deferred or is there still hope for fulfillment of the
dream that Dr. King spoke of?
Johnson noted that in the book Strength to Love, Dr. King said that
we should “Love our enemies." He quoted King’s words, “Returning
hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night
already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only
light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do
that. . . So when Jesus says “Love your enemies,” he is setting
forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition. Have we not
come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our
enemies– or else? The chain reaction of evil–hate begetting hate,
wars producing wars–must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the
dark abyss of annihilation.” Johnson asserted that even though these
words were written many years ago, they are still true today.
Johnson shared that King said in learning to love our enemies, we
should first “learn to forgive” and that forgiveness is not so much
for the other person as for ourselves because hatred eats us up
inside. He reports that Oprah recently interviewed the Little Rock
Nine as well as some of the protesters there the day the nine became
the first black students to enroll at Little Rock High School. The
Little Rock Nine forgave the protesters who had moved past hatred.
[to top of second column] |
 Johnson said that Nelson Mandela saved his country from a
bloodbath because he advocated forgiveness for atrocities
committed during Apartheid. He noted King’s words, “When there
is no enemy within, no enemy outside can harm us.” King also
asserted that we must realize [that the] evil and enemy does is
not the sum total of their lives. We need to see humanity in one
another—it is the only race that matters.
As Johnson explained, when we diminish or kill anyone, we prevent
the next Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama, Peyton Manning,
Lebron James, Jim Edgar, Paul Simon, Madeline Albright, Hillary
Clinton, or John McCain. . .we prevent the doctor who may find the
cure for cancer. When we kill or diminish, “we destroy a life.” We
must not seek to defeat or humiliate our enemy for “only love can
transform an enemy into a friend.”
Johnson believes that though we have come a long way, there is still
much work to do. He said that Dr. King dreamed of a day when people
would be judged by “the content of their character” instead of “the
color of their skin.” We need understanding and acceptance so that
nation can heal, our families can heal, our communities can heal. It
is time to close the racial divide and political divide that is
tearing apart our nation. In John 13:34, Jesus says: “a new
commandment I give you: love one another, by this shall all men know
you are my disciples if you love one another” and Johnson prays that
we may have the strength to love.
Johnson urged everyone to overcome barriers and said we can all be
the salvation of our community with the help of our almighty God. He
exhorted everyone to put into practice the love of Christ and
strength to love by husbands loving wives, wives loving husbands,
children loving and obeying their parents, teachers committing to
academic excellence, [people] being respectful of law enforcement,
law enforcement loving and protecting their community, democrats
loving republicans, republicans loving democrats, both loving
independents and libertarians, employers loving employees,
Christians loving Jews, and Jews loving Muslims. There is such
strength in love. In closing, he suggested that through love, “we
shall overcome in our schools, our churches, our economic sector,
law enforcement, and communities. . . God will provide the strength
to love.”
As the morning drew to a close, the LC chorale sang, “We Shall
Overcome” followed by the Second Baptist Youth Choir going from
table to table with offering baskets to collect donations for the
scholarship fund.
Before offering the benediction, Reverend Shelton fondly remembered
Joyce Kinzie for establishing the scholarship and annual breakfast.
He noted that Dr. King said “anybody can serve.” All we need is to
be “full of love for all mankind, then you can go out and serve.” He
encouraged everyone to “do your best, God will take care of the
rest.”
The scholarship committee consisted of the Reverend Glenn Shelton,
Les Plotner, Cathy Tiffany, Debbie Ackerman and Cynthia Kelley.
[Angela Reiners] |
