It was the evening of the 21st Dec., 1955. Rosa Parks, a forty-two year old black woman named boarded a bus in her home town of Montgomery, Alabama. The laws of racial segregation were absolute in the Alabama of the time.

Rosa had put in a hard day’s work hemming, ironing and steam pressing at Crittenden’s tailor shop. Her back ached and her feet were swollen from constant standing, and she was now she was delighted to finally sit down. By the third stop, the bus was full. One white man was left standing. Usually, black people at that time hopped to it, but this time Rosa just sat there, quietly looking out the window. She was thinking of two things. First of all, she drew on her deep faith in Jesus. She thought of how John the Baptist stood his ground at the Jordan River. We all should stand our ground in the name of Jesus. And then she thought of her foremothers and fathers from Africa who had taken the lash and the branding-iron while praying that someday their children would eat the bread of freedom. And a deep serenity took over her spirit.

When the driver stopped the bus, he asked her if she was going to move, she replied simply and quietly, “No”.  He had her arrested and thrown in jail.

Little did Rosa realise she was about to change the course of inter-racial relations history in the U.S. of A.

Question.: Can you point to any moment in your life when you stood up for the teaching of Jesus and let his Light shine through you?

Come Lord Jesus

…Our Thanks to Robert Mc Namara for his newspaper report