Gracious God, whose son gave up his life to unjust authority: We remember that on this date in 1956, a grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama indicted scores of civil rights activists, including Jo Ann Robinson, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks, for organizing a boycott against the municipal bus system to protest its discriminatory treatment of people of African descent. Give us a portion of their courage so that we will speak up and stand up when government acts immorally against others or ourselves. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
