The Fool on the Hill

On Paul McCartney's album "Tripping the Light Fantastic", he does an amazing version of the Beatles "The Fool on the Hill." The song describes how everyone thinks the man on the hill is a fool but he is really the one who sees things in crystal clear vision. It has always been a favorite of mine, but on this version which is pulsating live, Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech is layered over the music.

"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty! We're free at last!" King proclaims though freedom had yet to be achieved when he spoke these words.

Then McCartney sings again, "But the fool on the hill see the sun going down, and the eyes in his head see the world spinning round."

I find it very powerful and very moving.

In my life, I have met Coretta Scott-King twice. I was invited to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and sat where King preached every Sunday. I once was at a meeting in the offices of the Student Coordinating Council for Non-Violence which King helped launch and it was the same conference room table and chairs that he sat in.

I've also made by pilgrimage to the King Center and touched his tomb. I've read all of his books, listened to his speeches countless times, and read numerous books about him and the movement (the best are Taylor Branch's 3 volume set on the Civil Rights Movement and the marvelous "Martin and Malcolm"!).

A few years ago, Julie and I hosted our dear friends Carlos, Verna and Chelsea from St. Martin for a month in our home. They are from St. Martin, are black, speak more languages than I will ever master, work hard, and I love them dearly. We had a party for them at the pavilion and people from Union Mission, Tybee Island, and across the country came. We ate Southern food and danced into the night.

Two friends from Canada came, Paul and Nancy, and at some point someone commented to them, "Only Julie and Mike can do something like this."

What "this" was happened to be a fully integrated crowd all having a good time dancing and eating and celebrating life together. And enjoying the hell out of it! Black, white, gay, straight, Canadian, American, Caribbean. Those who can dance and those who can't.

Paul and Nancy were shocked and when they told us later of the comment, I remember filling with great pride. They were perplexed that such things are still an issue.

But alas, they are. In the American south, a lot of people still resent Martin Luther King. But then again, every prophet in the Bible was resented. Why should this one be different?

In the Bible, (I paid lots of good money to learn this) there are major prophets and minor prophets. The gage is how big was the difference they made. The United States has had a great many minor prophets, but only on major one. Martin Luther King. And I really don't give much of a damn what others do or don't do on this day, but I honor him and celebrate one man's incredible life!

Was he perfect? No. But who is? Did he do things that made an entire nation better? Yes! Did those things that he did make the entire world notice? Yes! So, today my heart will dance. Because it is free to do so. At last!