What would you do if a group of people were yelling at you, cursing you and threatening you? An amazing answer to this question can be seen in the Disney film, \u201cRuby Bridges,\u201d which is based on the true story of the six-year-old African-American girl who desegregated the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1960. Every day this little girl had to deal with public protests and even death threats when she went to school escorted by marshals through the angry crowds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Air Force captain, Robert Coles, was a psychiatrist stationed nearby at Keesler Air Force base in Biloxi who witnessed the racial conflicts over the desegregation of public schools. He volunteered to provide counseling for Ruby and her family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the film he asked Ruby what she was saying as she walked through the yelling, angry crowds to school. She said she was not saying anything to the crowds. Dr. Coles said, \u201cI saw your lips moving, I know you were saying something.\u201d Ruby replied, \u201cI was not speaking to the angry people, I was praying for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My father is a wise, deeply spiritual man who will be 91 years old next month. I remember him telling me, \u201cGod gives you some people to help your prayer life.\u201d When we are having a difficult time with another person or group of people and are struggling with what to do or say, the best thing we can do first is to pray for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The faith of Ruby Bridges helped her change her school, our nation and our world. Dr. Coles wrote a series of articles about her in the Atlantic <\/em>magazine that were later in his first book, Children of Crisis: A Study of Courage and Fear<\/em>, that won the Pulitzer Prize. He became a world-renowned author and Harvard professor. He never forgot Ruby and 35 years later wrote a children\u2019s book, The Story of Ruby Bridges. <\/em>The great American artist Norman Rockwell was inspired by Ruby\u2019s bravery and painted her in his powerful work titled The Problem We All Live With<\/em> that was published in Look<\/em> magazine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This Monday, Jan. 21 at 1 p.m., the Disney film on Ruby Bridges will be a free showing for the public at the First Presbyterian Union Church as part of a community celebration of the 90th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr. At the same time, the church will also show the prize-winning movie Selma<\/em> for adults, the story of Dr. King\u2019s s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The movie cast includes David Oyelowo as King, Hugh Jackson as Sheriff Jim Clark, Liam Neeson as President Johnson and Robert DeNiro as Governor George Wallace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Starting at 11 a.m., the public is invited to start the MLK celebration though a service project to assemble school kits and hygiene kits for people in disasters, to be distributed by the ecumenical Church World Service. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are planning to join other children, youth and adults for this project. Following a noontime lunch, everyone will enjoy the two age-age-appropriate movies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Together we will remember Dr. King\u2019s words, \u201cLife’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?\u2019”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bruce Gillette is the Pastor of the First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What would you do if a group of people were yelling at you, cursing you and threatening you? An amazing answer to this question can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":70921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n