Pastor brings new life to King's dream
In his memory, Shockley conjured up the words of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech: "I may not get there with you. But I want you to know, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land." And then Shockley offered a prayer of gratitude for "new realities about to be defined."
Shockley didn't pray these words lightly. He had experienced racial segregation and discrimination first-hand as a young man in Dover, Delaware, a "whipping post" state, where this form of corporal punishment was not outlawed until 1970.
He rode a bus from Dover to Washington, D.C. to participate in King's first March on Washington in 1963. Struck by the potential of what he experienced, Shockley gave the next five years of his life to the Civil Rights Movement, helping to open the doors of reluctant churches and civic groups to King's lieutenants.
Like King, Shockley believes he can say, "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." He sees this potential for glory as President Obama assumes office. But he's not looking to the president to bring the dream to life. "It's not up to Obama. It's up to the people who put Obama where he is," Shockley said.
Asbury UMC, Shockley pointed out, has been working for decades to feed the poor and give the homeless resources to help them survive.
The congregation started when its black members were asked to leave Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church 172 years ago. Since that time, Shockley said, "our role is to open the doors, open the spirit and open the mind. We'll continue to do that, but we are also at a new place now."
The struggle, he believes, is now a broader one that includes more, and different, people.
"Today is an answer to history's question of ‘what if,'" said Shockley, who is eagerly anticipating the new questions as they are born.
