This past week, my wife
and I went to the movies and we watched “The Butler.” The movie has a long list
of very accomplished actors. The main characters were played by Forest Whitaker
(whom I am sure will get the Oscar for his role in this film) and Oprah
Winfrey. The story is based on the life of longtime White House butler, Eugene
Allen, who served under eight U.S. presidents, including Harry S. Truman, John
F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan.
The film is about family
more than it is about anything else. It is about the struggles of parents
raising children who don’t always see things the same way parents do. It is
about growing old together, still in love with one another. It is about
sacrifice, loss, pain, injustice, hurt, and remembering the good, the bad, and
the ugly of life and still having the fortitude to raise your head up high.
Yes, it is about an African American family. Yes, it is also about the civil
rights movement, the Black Panthers, and the unjust treatment of African
Americans in this country. But above all of these things, it is about a family
who loves each other and struggles with each other and the demands of this life,
internally and externally. It is a remarkable film and I encourage everyone to
watch it.
The only negative about
the film (at least for me) was the casting of each of the presidents. To me,
they did not bear a resemblance to reality; perhaps this was done intentionally
not to draw attention from the main character of the Butler. But I still wish
they had done a better job at this. Go and watch this film, learn about a time
in American history most of us have only heard about and be encouraged as human
beings, as families, and as people of God.
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Dr. Martin Luther King
giving his "I Have a Dream" speech
during the March on Washington in
Washington, D.C., on 28 August 1963.
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Alongside the watching
of this film, I would like to bring your attention to another event worthy of
remembrance. No, I am not being political, I have no intention or inclination
to be political in any of my blogs. However, to ignore this film and the event
we celebrate this week would be a grievous and ignorant error on our part.
This week, on August 28,
the 50th year anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream”
speech was remembered and celebrated by many. The speech was delivered from
the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and it called and still
calls all Americans to live up to those words of the Constitution of these
United States that declare that “All men are created equal.” Clearly, this
speech of Dr. King was an anointed and prophetic speech that will be
remembered forever. Listening to talk shows this week I learned that Martin
Luther King, Jr. only intended to speak for about 10 minutes on justice and
equality, but when the Holy Spirit took hold of him, the preacher of God’s word
took over and the “I Have a Dream” speech came forth. Something that we all can
aspire to.
I suspect that many today
have never ever taken the time to listen to the entire speech which is only
just over 17 minutes long. I know for certain that we have all heard portions
of the speech but how about taking the time to listen to Dr. King deliver the
speech again for our own generation. If you google it, you will find the speech
very easily, on the Internet, as it was delivered in 1963.
I pray we may all learn
to treat each other always with love, worth, and respect as our God has called
us to, independent of color, or nationality, or accent, or religion, or
anything else; and just simply as fellow human beings sharing this wonderful
nation we call the United States of America and this amazing world in which we
all live.
Let’s Blog!
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