2005 Civil Rights Journey. Atlanta. Sunday, July 10.

Atlanta. Sunday, July 10.

A hard rain is falling outside the King Center. The tomb of our nation's greatest civil rights leader lies in a reflecting pool beaded by an onslaught of raindrops. Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he was pastor, is crowded with quiet folks listening to a looped audiotape of one of his sermons. The rain hastens and we receive bad news: Hurricane Dennis has closed every place on our itinerary tomorrow. Montgomery, Alabama, is for all intents and purposes shut down as it braces for the storm. Even the hotel we reserved has called to plead with us not to come.

In the interests of safety and common sense, we have no choice but to stay in Atlanta another day. The storm won't be so bad here. Everyone feels disappointment but we promise to make up as much of the schedule as we can.

We pause to reflect on the generosity of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA). In the morning, a caravan of UUCA volunteers shuttled us in small groups from our hotel to its doors, then after an inspirational service and a hearty lunch, here to the King Center. We were privileged to view a small portion of the documentary UUCA has made to commemorate its own history, dating to 1879 on the Universalist side and 1882 on the Unitarian side. Always a civil rights leader, the church by 1957 was not just desegregated; it was integrated. It had a strong relationship with Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Dr. King was a pulpit guest on occasion.