Today we recognize and celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day here at Photography 139.
At a time where the United States has fallen under the control of a particularly rabidly racist regime that is actively trying to erase the contributions of minorities out of the history books, it is particularly important to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and all those that have fought to help America move towards fulfilling it promise.
And remember the truth of the words that MLK gave shortly before his death:
And that’s all this whole thing is about. We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying — We are saying that we are God’s children. And that we are God’s children, we don’t have to live like we are forced to live.
Now, what does all of this mean in this great period of history? It means that we’ve got to stay together. We’ve got to stay together and maintain unity. You know, whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite, favorite formula for doing it. What was that? He kept the slaves fighting among themselves. But whenever the slaves get together, something happens in Pharaoh’s court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. When the slaves get together, that’s the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity….
Now, let me say as I move to my conclusion that we’ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis. We’ve got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. If it means leaving work, if it means leaving school — be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.
Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness. One day a man came to Jesus, and he wanted to raise some questions about some vital matters of life. At points he wanted to trick Jesus, and show him that he knew a little more than Jesus knew and throw him off base….Now that question could have easily ended up in a philosophical and theological debate. But Jesus immediately pulled that question from mid-air, and placed it on a dangerous curve between Jerusalem and Jericho. And he talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves. You remember that a Levite and a priest passed by on the other side. They didn’t stop to help him. And finally a man of another race came by. He got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy. But he got down with him, administered first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the “I” into the “thou,” and to be concerned about his brother.
Now you know, we use our imagination a great deal to try to determine why the priest and the Levite didn’t stop. At times we say they were busy going to a church meeting, an ecclesiastical gathering, and they had to get on down to Jerusalem so they wouldn’t be late for their meeting. At other times we would speculate that there was a religious law that “One who was engaged in religious ceremonials was not to touch a human body twenty-four hours before the ceremony.” And every now and then we begin to wonder whether maybe they were not going down to Jerusalem — or down to Jericho, rather to organize a “Jericho Road Improvement Association.” That’s a possibility. Maybe they felt that it was better to deal with the problem from the causal root, rather than to get bogged down with an individual effect.
But I’m going to tell you what my imagination tells me. It’s possible that those men were afraid. You see, the Jericho road is a dangerous road. I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, “I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable.” It’s a winding, meandering road. It’s really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about 1200 miles — or rather 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you’re about 2200 feet below sea level. That’s a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the “Bloody Pass.” And you know, it’s possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it’s possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked — the first question that the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
That’s the question before you tonight. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?” The question is not, “If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?” The question is, “If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?” That’s the question.
Martin Luther King Jr. – April 3, 1968
Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.
“Dangerous unselfishness” is I think one of my favorite concepts and turns of phrase that has ever been put out into the world. So let us be dangerously unselfish on this day as we care for and protect those that are daily victims of oppression. Remember, the Klan isn’t gone. They just wear different hats.
CONTRAST! A great theme! But was it a popular theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!
As of 12:01 PM on Monday, January 12, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:
1-Charlie DeWaard – 1 week
2-Sabas Hernandez – 1 week
3-Sarah Karber – 1 week
*4-Alexis Stensland – 1 week
*5-Mary Green – 2 weeks
6-Deanna Peters – 2 weeks
7-Jesse Howard – 4 weeks
*8-Kio Dettman – 8 weeks
9-Becky Parmelee – 13 weeks
*10-Suzie Brannen – 17 weeks
11-Willy McAlpine – 19 weeks
*12-Monica Jennings – 23 weeks
*13-Deb Powers – 71 weeks
14-Mike Vest – 85 weeks
15-Lowell Davis – 105 weeks
*16-Scott Degeneffe – 124 weeks
17-Sheri Fakhouri – 134 weeks
*18-Logan Kahler – 135 weeks
19-Nathanial Brown – 136 weeks
20-Tamara Peterson – 147 weeks
*21-Mindi Terrell – 151 weeks
*22-Linda Bennett – 180 weeks
*23-Sarah Toot – 181 weeks
24-Angie DeWaard – 184 weeks
25-Dawn Krause – 187 weeks
26-Kim Barker – 195 weeks
27-Joe Duff – 196 weeks
*28-Teresa Kahler – 207 weeks
*29-Carla Stensland – 207 weeks
30-Micky Augustin – 209 weeks
31-Andy Sharp – 210 weeks
32-Bill Wentworth – 211 weeks
*33-Cathie Morton – 214 weeks
34-Elizabeth Nordeen – 216 weeks
35-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 218 weeks
It is the third Monday of the month and on the third week of the month I like to share a map of all the states where people have submitted from in Year 13 heading into today. Here is that map:
9 STATES
But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks or the rules of the challenge or how to submit. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:
Micky Augustin (Kansas City, Missouri) – 211 weeks
Shannon Bardole-Foley (Near Rippey, Iowa) – 220 weeks
Kim Barker (Nevada, Iowa) – 197 weeks
Christopher D. Bennett (Boone, Iowa)
Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 182 weeks
Suzie Brannen (Perry, Iowa) – 19 weeks
Nathanial Brown (Fairfield, Ohio) – 138 weeks
Nathanial Brown (Wheeling, West Virginia)
Lowell Davis (Boone, Iowa) – 107 weeks
Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa) – 126 weeks
Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa) – 10 weeks
Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)
Angie DeWaard (Science Center of Iowa – Des Moines, Iowa) – 186 weeks
Charlie DeWaard (Ames, Iowa) – 3 weeks
Joe Duff (League City, Texas) – 198 weeks
Sheri Fakhouri (Cool Basil – Clive, Iowa)
Jesse Howard (Boone, Iowa) – 6 weeks
Monica Jennings (Boone, Iowa) – 25 weeks
Brandon Kahler (Ames, Iowa) – 1 week
Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 137 weeks
Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa)
Teresa Kahler (Cool Basil – Clive, Iowa) – 209 weeks
Teresa Kahler (Cool Basil – Clive, Iowa)
Dawn Krause (Boone, Iowa) – 189 weeks
Willy McAlpine (Boone, Iowa) – 21 weeks
Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 215 weeks
Elizabeth Nordeen (Ames, Iowa) – 218 weeks
Becky Parmelee (Fayetteville, Arkansas) – 15 weeks
Deanna Peters (Boone, Iowa) – 4 weeks
Tamara Peterson (Perry, Iowa) – 149 weeks
Tamara Peterson (Boone, Iowa)
Deb Powers (Granger, Iowa) – 73 weeks
Deb Powers (Granger, Iowa)
Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 212 weeks
Alexis Stensland (Boone County, Iowa) – 3 weeks
Carla Stensland (Ogden, Iowa) – 209 weeks
Carla Stensland (Arnolds Park, Iowa)
Mindi Terrell (Urbandale, Iowa) – 153 weeks
Mindi Terrell (Urbandale, Iowa)
Sarah Toot (E. Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) – 183 weeks
Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 87 weeks
Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 213 weeks
Submissions from 34 participants this week. I wouldn’t call it a popular week. But not bad.
A huge thanks to everyone that included the location of their picture with their submission! And a huge thanks to everyone that submitted before Monday morning! Makes my job so much easier!
- Week 539 Submission Geography
- Arkansas
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Ohio (New)
- Pennsylvania (New)
- Texas
- West Virginia (New)
- Year 13 Submission Geography (1st Submitter)
- Arkansas (Scott)
- Iowa (Tamara)
- Kansas (Linda)
- Michigan (Mary)
- Minnesota (Sarah K.)
- Missouri (Scott)
- Nebraska (Bill)
- New York (Sarah T.)
- Ohio (Nathanial)
- Pennsylvania (Sarah T.)
- Texas (Joe)
- West Virginia (Nathanial)
That is 12 states! That is a great start to Year 13!
I’m definitely not tracking this, but I believe we had submissions from the following unique counties in Iowa this week: Boone, Dallas, Dickinson, Greene, Story, Polk, and Warren.
The big milestones this week were Kio joining the Double Digit StreakClub!! WooHoo! WooHoo! Linda joining the 3.5 Year Streak Club!!! WooHoo! WooHoo! WooHoo! Woo! But it wasn’t all fun and games. There was a virtual bloodbath of streaks going up in flames. Sara couldn’t build on her submission from last week and her streak is over before it began. Sabas and Sarah’s streaks are over after 2 weeks. And Mary’s streak is gone after 3 weeks. Sigh.
Enough dwelling on the past! Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:
ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE! What a great theme for Year 13 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
It is a new year so the there is a new set of rules. Don’t just gloss by them!
- YEAR 13 – THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE RULES
- The picture must be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch and take pictures challenge!
- There is a limit of 2 submissions per person per theme. If you send me more than 2, I will use the first 2 that you submit. If you submit 2 pictures, make sure they are of different subjects.
- Deadline to submit your submission is 11 AM Central Time the following Monday. But that is a deadline. Pictures can be submitted as soon as you take them. In fact, pictures being submitted by Sunday night are GREATLY APPRECIATED!
- To be considered the photographer of an image, you have to be the one that clicks the shutter. If you hand your camera over to somebody else to take a picture of you, you are NOT the photographer of that image.
- No screen captures. This is a photography challenge. Not a “look at what I found on the internet” challenge.
- Please include the location of where the picture was taken with your submission. PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME ASK YOU!
- Please submit images that are OVER 1000 pixels at their largest side. DON’T OVERCROP! Look at this page on a computer, if your images are considerably smaller than everyone else’s pictures, then you are sending too small of images!
- ABSOLUTELY NO USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE!!
- How to Submit
- Email your submission to bennett@photography139.com.
- Text your submission to my Google Pixel 8 Pro. I’m not putting my phone # here. If you know, you know.
This is the 5th time that ARCHITECTURE has been a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.
Here are a couple of my favorites from the Ghosts of ARCHITECTURE Past for inspiration:
Bill Wentworth – Week 47
Carla Stensland – Week 159
Cathie Morton – Week 209
Micky Augustin – Week 306
Sabas Hernandez – Week 420
To peruse all of the more than 120 submissions in the ARCHITECTURE archive, click on the link below:
I look forward to seeing your interpretation!
Until next Monday, may you run and not be weary. May your heart be filled with song. And may the love of God continue to give you hope and keep you strong.