“Like anybody, I
would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned
about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to
the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get
there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised
Land! And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm
not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!”
Many
of you will recognize that excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last
speech, delivered in Memphis, Tennessee on April 3, 1968, the night before he
was assassinated.
I still wonder how he could offer thoughts
and words so timely, as if he knew what was going to happen the next day. What is more likely is that his awareness
that he was a walking target led him to make that declaration publicly at least
once. What was important about what he
said was that he knew that his legacy was intact. He had developed a movement. He had galvanized the desires and hopes of
people who needed faith and optimism.
King realized that while he was a leader in the struggle for expanded
civil rights, he could not be the only voice if goals for equality were to be
reached. We can see today that there are
many people who pay tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. through their work for
civil rights and voting rights, which are political battles that are not yet
totally won in a way that acknowledges everyone’s place in society. The poverty that King hoped to alleviate
still is with us. The peace in the world
that he sought has not come to fruition.
It was apparent from what he declared in his last speech that King knew
that there would be others to take up the mantle of his dreams and his vision
in the future. His words reverberate in our minds when we consider what we
still must do.
Like Martin Luther King, Jr., each of us
has dreams, aspirations and a vision not just for ourselves but for life in the
human community. We act on those
values in our relationships and as citizens who have an opportunity to make an
impact on our corner of the world. Last
night, in our discussion session on the book WISE AGING (by Rabbi Rachel Cowan
and Dr. Linda Thal), each participant drew, on a sheet of paper, a depiction of
a “river” of his or her life, noting the most important events along the way
and identifying people who were present at those moments. Each of those visual
life reviews identified what was meaningful and significant throughout the
years, both in terms of personal achievement and in work that touched others in
a way that left a lasting impact.
Looking at the sweep of a lifespan, even on paper, can invokes a sense
of awe, amazement and satisfaction, if we allow ourselves to see what we have
done as a complete legacy at any given time.
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| Twelve Tribe Window Temple Beth-El Las Cruces, NM |
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| Twelve Tribe Window Temple Beth-El Las Cruces,NM |
In the Torah reading for this week, Jacob,
who was nearing death, realized that he needed to leave his children and
grandchildren a legacy in the form of a blessing, words that would stay with
them and be passed on to future generations. Jacob had received a spiritual inheritance
from his parents and grandparents, and
he wanted to be certain that the next generations understood how important they
were as the descendants of Abraham and Sarah and as Jacob’s children and
grandchildren. When Jacob first arrived
in Egypt, Pharaoh met him and immediately asked how many years he had
lived. Jacob responded: “The years of my
sojourn [on Earth] are one hundred and thirty. Few and hard have been the years
of my life, nor do they come up to the life-spans of my fathers during their
sojourns.” After seeing Joseph for the
first time in many years, it was clear that Jacob wasn’t quite ready to convey or
even feel relief and joy at the reunification of his family. Eventually, he would find that contentment
after living for a time in Egypt. Jacob
would bless his sons with individual characterizations that conveyed their
personality, expressions that are portrayed in the stained-glass windows here
on the bimah. My favorite statement
from Jacob is his blessing of his grandsons, “May God make you like Ephraim and
like Manasseh.” At that moment, Jacob
could have told them all about himself and focused on his own life experiences,
recounting his challenges and the travail that he felt when he spoke to
Pharaoh. Instead, he was ready to look
towards the future. When he brought the
two boys close to him, he created a memorable encounter that solidified the
link between them and their family, all the way back to their great-great
grandparents. In telling them that
future generations would offer blessing using THEIR names, Jacob thrust Ephraim
and Manasseh into the spotlight, a central position that would require them to
visibly preserve the heritage that was being handed down to them. They would need to discover God as Jacob had
at Beth-El. They would need to wrestle
with God or with themselves to reach their highest potential. They would also, hopefully, retain and
nurture the faith that began with Abraham’s realization that th
Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jacob in the bible left something significant to
their followers and their family that would stay with them for the coming
generations. As we consider our own
legacies, who will carry on our mission?
Who will take our achievements and add their own enhancing touch to them
in a way that honors us? Who will learn from our wisdom and values? Who will be inspired by our vision of a
promised land to the point of engaging in action that will make real the goals
for which we have worked throughout our lives?
There are likely people whom we know or whom we don’t know who share our
values, who will apply those principles in a way that will spread kindness,
goodness, understanding, and a richness
of spirit that constitutes a promised land that will offer many members of the
human family help and hope. Like Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. and like Jacob, we will
not fear, because all we are and all we do will offer blessing to everyone
around us. May that be the legacy we
leave.
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