BLM vs. ALM, The Rumble in the Jungle

I have been watching Muhammad Ali, Ken Burns's film on PBS.  It reminded me so much of how much we seemed to have lost.  Long before there was President Obama, who I never really cared for, there was Cassius Clay, who, along with Joe Namath and my father, shaped the world of my youth.  I can remember my dad taking me down to Cherokee Hardware in Athens Tennessee and letting me buy my first white football cleats.  I was in the 7th grade and Joe Namath had won the Super Bowl two years earlier wearing his iconic white cleats.  Likewise, I can remember sitting with my dad and listening on the radio as Cassius Clay now Mahammad Ali had his first great fight with Joe Frazier wearing his iconic white silk robe, boxing trunks, along with white boxing shoes.  These were the two great heroes of my youth.  But my dad was so much more because he allowed them to be my hero’s even though they did not model the faith he held so sacred.  The same sacred faith led him to always live out in front of me the truth that all humans are made in the image of God and therefore all were worthy of our care and even hero status, for a young boy who lived to dream of being a sports star one day.  Long before BLM my father lived ALM including the heroes of his son.