I only heard her speak in person once, back in the early 1980's when she spoke at a Colloquium at Utah State University. I remember her presentation as being sincere and passionate but not particularly uplifting or inspiring. Even then she seemed more like her husband's shadow (as in Peter Pan) than herself.
Coretta Scott King is the perfect example of the "what if" scenario. What if her husband had been somewhere else besides Montgomery when Rosa Parks got arrested for not moving to the back of the bus? What if her husband had not risen to national prominence? What if her husband had not been assassinated?
I suspect that deep in her heart, gifted though she was, Coretta Scott King's personal dream would have been to simply be a Baptist pastor's wife, mother to her children and, perhaps, one day stepping out into some vocation of her own choosing when the children had grown. Instead of choosing her own destiny, however, destiny chose her.
It is to her credit and worthy of our gratitude that she took the mantle of her fallen husband and served us all so well until the end.
We now trust her spirit to the care and mercy of Almighty God in the sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal life.
"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Amen.
Article comments
1 - Michael J. West
That second picture you posted is my favorite: rectitude. I don't know that I've ever seen another photograph that showed such strength in the face of tragedy.
2 - Peter Johnson
In America we accept the passing of another human being with polite words honoring the deserving. That Coretta Scott King was taken from us when she had the right to recover from suffering in ill health could be reason to lament more loudly about this injustice. Neither Martin nor she probably would be appreciative of our limiting obituary comments about them to their great contributions to our progress as a society overcoming discrimination. Yet nobody has spoken very much in the media about what happened to end her vitality. Perhaps future candid dialogues will venture to speculate how that tragedy occurred in the midst of caring professionals also now left vulnerable to interventions compromising their environment of innovative restoration.
3 - Victor Lana
"She was a woman thrust onto the world stage through no effort of her own." Sounds a good deal like Rosa Parks to me. Both women showed the inner strength and fortitude to take on a tremendous responsibility that came with a good deal of personal discomfort. Both women deserve high praise for handling this with dignity and poise, while leaving a lasting legacy for all Americans.