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PROGRAM SUCCESS – MAY 2010
FROM GOD’S CORNER
“CARRY ME”
By Aundra Bryant
Tallahassee, Florida
“ About twelve years ago, I had the
pleasure of picking up Rev.
Benjamin L. Hooks from the airport
in Tallahassee and chauffeuring him
to our Grand Lodge Banquet where
he was to be the keynote speaker.
As we journeyed through the city of Tallahassee, I found Rev. Hooks to
be a very down to earth person who mastered the art of humor. Rev.
Hooks served as Supreme Chancellor for over thirty years of the
Knights of Pythias, a fraternal organization. I am also a proud member
of this organization which is built on the guiding principles of
friendship, charity and benevolence.
As I watched the funeral of Rev. Hooks, my mind flashed back
to Psalms 27: 10“When my mother and my father forsake me, then the
Lord will lift me up”. There are three reasons why we need the Lord to
carry us? Firstly, Rev. Hooks was a champion for human and civil
rights. As Executive Director of the NAACP for many years, I am sure
that he tried to model Micah 6:8 which poses a question to us “ What
does God require but to do just, love mercy and walk humbly with thy
God”. Rev Hooks knew what is was to be put down, criticized and
misunderstood by the people who you are trying to lead and also by the
status quo who do not want to accept the fact that it is time for a change,
therefore we need the Lord to carry us mentally.
Secondly, Rev. Hooks served in the Army where he dodged
bullets to save his life and his fellow soldiers’ lives. When he returned
from his tour of duty overseas, he had to fight bullets of poverty,
racism, unemployment and injustice. Rev. Hooks was not only a
preacher but a pastor which entails the awesome responsibility of
preaching, teaching counseling and traveling which can take its toll on
the man of God over time, therefore we need the Lord to carry us
physically.
Finally, I am sure that Rev. Hooks felt like the Apostle Paul in
Second Timothy where he declares “I have fought a good fight, I have
kept the faith, I have finished my course, and I am now ready to be
offered up.” Rev. Hooks preached to the end declaring that “I am not
ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is power unto
Benjamin Lawson Hooks
(January 31, 1925 – April 15, 2010)
was an American Civil Rights Leader.
A Baptist Minister and Accomplished
Attorney, he served as Executive
Director of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) from 1977 to 1992,
and throughout his career was H