Sometimes Saying "Yes" is the Easy Part

Within a matter of hours Martin Luther King, Jr. had been asked to serve as president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, said, "yes," and then that same evening had delivered a rousing speech to some 5000 people, exhorting them to keep the boycott going. His leadership had been responded to in a very positive way.

That morning Martin and Coretta had looked out of the front window of their parsonage on Jackson street (picture below from our visit there), to see with joy that blacks were not boarding the bus stop on the corner right next to their house. They would keep watching that scene, day after day. However, things would get ugly very soon, and stay that way for a very long time: in fact, for 381 days, which is how long the boycott would last.

People had hoped for a quick resolution with the city bus system. When that did not happen, some began to question Martin's leadership. In fact, in January he offered to resign as president, but it was not accepted. Then the city began its "get tough" campaign. Martin was arrested on a trumped-up speeding charge, and for the first time (there would be 13 other times in the coming years) thrown into jail.

He also began to receive threatening phone calls and letters. They kept increasinging in number and by the middle of January were up to 30 to 40 per day. The calls threatened Martin, Coretta, and even their baby, Yolanda. This was the day when there were no answering machines and when pastors were expected to pick up their phone in case of an emergency, or simply to plan normal pastoral ministry.

The ugly, hate-filled phone calls began to take their toll on Martin. One night he didn't get home from a meeting until almost midnight. (On our visit to the parsonage our group stood around the kitchen table as a CD was played of Martin describing the experience below).

He tried to sleep, but couldn't. Then the phone rang, and the man threatened Martin and his family. Martin hung up and went into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. He sat there, filled with fear and regret. His courage had left him. A voice in his head said to him, You can't call on Daddy now, you can't even call on Mama. You've got to call on that something in that person that your Daddy used to tell you about, that power that can make a way out of no way. Lord, I'm down here trying to do what's right. I'm here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But Lord, I must confess that I am weak now, I'm faltering, I'm losing my courage. Now, I am afraid. . . . . .I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I've come to the point where I can't face it alone.

And then, Martin heard an inner voice saying to him, Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And lo, I will be with you. Even until the end of the world. . . . .I had heard the voice of Jesus say to fight on. He promised never to leave me alone. At that moment I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced Him before. Almost at once my fears began to go. My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything.

Martin would not have to wait long to 'face anything.'  Three nights later, while he was away from home, and Coretta, Yolanda, and a parishioner were in the house alone, a car drove by and threw a bomb onto the porch.  On our visit to the parsonage we were able to see where the bomb exploded, breaking out windows.

Fortunately, no one was hurt. Martin raced home, and from the porch addressed the large crowd that had gathered. While they were seeking revenge, he told them to go home quietly and remember that non-violence is the only proper path, no matter what others may try to do to you.

Later Martin would say that it was his religious experience three nights before, over a cup of coffee, that gave him the strength to face his fears that night, and the mulitude of fears he would face in the years to come.