Encircled by the Invitation

tone sculpture of clergy praying in Birmingham, Alabama.

Photo by CWACM member

The Kneeling Ministers sculpture by Raymond Kaskey, in Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

The sculpture depicts the moment on Palm Sunday, April 7, 1963, when three ministers, John Thomas Porter, Nelson H. Smith and A. D. King, led a group of 2,000 marchers protesting the jailing of movement leaders Martin Luther King Jr, Ralph Abernathy and Fred Shuttlesworth. When they were confronted by Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor and his police, the three immediately knelt to pray on the sidewalk.

Immediately I felt a warm blanket encircle me when I began reading Vernice’s emailed invitation to come, to gather with our people in Birmingham, AL for dedicated time together at sacred sites of ancestral sacrifice. Sinking into this warm comfort of what I expected to be much needed care for my soul, I replied, “Yes, I will be there.”

As with most of my intuitive responses like these, I enter our space together with no defined expectations or hopes. Whatever is meant for me to experience, will greet me when I arrive.

While we all prepare for this time, the Movement can remember us travelers with simple, sacred gestures of love and light: burn a candle for a symbolic amount of time, sit meditatively in nature and whisper our names, allow the sun’s warmth to shine on your face as you smile and think of us and the places we’ll visit.

I look forward to this experience, and to sharing with everyone how it went for me following our returns home.

About the Author

rev. dr. candi dugas is an award-winning writer and practical theologian whose progressive insights challenge how we think about faith, freedom and justice.