a different Maundy Thursday...

Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of the day when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assissinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis. There has been a buzz of activities around the city, lots of gatherings, folks visiting the Lorraine, celebrations and vigils.

In the Christian calendar Maundy Thursday is the day when the last supper took place, before Good Friday, the day in the Easter Lenten calendar marking the Friday when Jesus was executed. So, today, Thursday, its a different kind of Maundy Thursday, the day before a King was executed.

According to wikipedia,
The word Maundy is derived from the Latin mandatum, the first word of the phrase "Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos", "A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you". Which were among Jesus last words to his disciples on that Thursday evening prior to his death on Friday.

In so, so many ways King embodied that deep love for a people. A love so deep the he, like a King (Jesus), before him, gave his life so that a humanity might have life.

It was on this day, 40 years ago, in the Memphis Mason Lodge, headquarters of the Church of God in Christ denomination, that King delivered his, I Have Been to the Mountain Top" speech. You can read, listen and watch the speech here.

King was in the throws of planning his Poor People's Campaign when he came to Memphis in support of the Sanitation Workers' of Memphis and their strike. It was during that visit that he was killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in downtown Memphis, TN.

Today I remember that speech, his life and the role this city has played in moving our country along the road to racial equality.

These photos were taken at the Lorraine Hotel during our last visit with the Grahams 3 weeks ago.