Keeping My Eyes On The Prize

When I was a teenager, they used to show us a heart-wrenching PBS Civil Rights program in my high school called "Eyes on the Prize". It was hard to see the images of African Americans being subjugated, brutalized, and even murdered. I often grew angry; angry at those long-ago racists, angry at people who would still choose to be racist, and even angry at my school for showing me such horrible images of pain and violence. I remember seeing the brutalized face of 14 year old Emmett Till as he lay in his casket and being filled with pain, anger and confusion. There seemed to be no reason for me to be shown these things - after all, it was 1989, nobody did things like that anymore.

Sadly, we know that is not true.

I don't mean to be morose and I certainly don't want to bum anybody out, but sometimes our own trials and tribulations, although they may be drastically less grave than the ones African Americans lived through pre- and during the Civil Rights era, well, sometimes our own pains can seem insurmountable. We can feel overwhelmed by the seemingly endless onslaught of issues in our lives. And it doesn't matter how big or how small -- they are ours and they hurt. But Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the many other freedom fighters of that time sang that they would keep their eyes on the prize no matter what, so help them God. And just look at what they did:



Even those that did not live to see it, especially them, they made this happen. Something that might never have happened without the masses keeping their eyes on the prize of Freedom. Freedom for all despite their color, religion, or anything else for that matter. Just basic, human Freedom. The Prize.

This too is my prize. Freedom from pain, from worry, from scarcity, from fear. Freedom from all of the things that keep me from the life I most want to live. Freedom from the things that hurt me and bind me. I'm keeping my eyes on the prize, and I will not stop until I am not only able to live a truly full, expressive, and greatly abundant life - but until I am able to support others in achieving that goal as well. A victory for one is a victory for all. I learned that in high school, watching that program through tears, a heavy heart, a hopeful mind and my eyes on the prize.