It’s gotten cold these days during my Walk Across America. We started in New York City on September 1 in the heat and humidity and I am now enjoying this fresh, cool air as I walk through the North Carolina countryside. At night, the Carolina sky is so clear you can see the stars, which is something I rarely see in my Chicago South Side neighborhood. Most of all, I love this time of year because it means Thanksgiving.
While walking along the Drewry-Virginia Line Road, I came across the oldest family-owned store in North Carolina, Buchanan’s Store. It’s been open since 1878 and one can only wonder what kind of people came through its doors, from Confederate veterans to little old me.
There were beautiful flowers on the doorstep and Thanksgiving decorations everywhere. Above all, the people there were kind to us. I was sitting on the sidewalk with my drink taking a break from my walk, and it dawned on me how much I have to be grateful for this year.
AMID the division and noise, a simple truth: AMERICA STILL HAS A HEART
Back home in Chicago, I watched the wonder of the community center—something I’d dreamed of for more than a decade—begin to be built. When I saw those tractors digging out the dirt, those beams going in and the cement flowing, it has been so long since that area has been built for positive change and I admit I cried several times. I am grateful to all the donors and supporters who continued to believe in and made this possible. I am grateful to everyone who worked to build this center, despite the heat and cold.
Pastor Corey Brooks at Project HOOD on the South Side of Chicago. I am grateful to everyone who worked to build this center, despite the heat and cold. (Project-KAP)
To every American who has met me on this walk through city streets, back roads, country roads, porches and church steps, I say it from the bottom of my heart: Thank you. Thank you for the honey buns, the sandwiches, the home-cooked meals and for the kind donations that ordinary Americans have given us. You have fed me, housed me, prayed with me and lifted me up when I was down. Thanks to you, our children will have a better life.
FROM A ROOFTOP IN CHICAGO TO A 3,000 MILE JOURNEY, THIS IS HOW I’M FIGHTING TO RESTORE AMERICA’S SOUL
Thank you to this beautiful country of ours. It is sometimes so complicated and far from perfect, but it is never finished and it allows us to write our future. I am grateful for this country that allows even a flawed man like me to find a way to serve his community. I love this country that says, “Just because things are the way they are, doesn’t mean they have to stay that way.” She enables the power of change within us and I hope never to betray that gift.
Most of all, I thank God for guiding me into this life. He knew the ways before I took the first step. He came up in almost every conversation I had on this trip.
As I watch the trucks drive by on this country road, I am filled with gratitude for the sacred grounds I have walked these past few days: churches, historic sites, old slave paths, battlefields. Every mile has taught me the same Thanksgiving truth: Those who came before us and those who built the paths we walk today, it is those women and men who need to be thanked. It is our turn on this earth, and we must build on what they have built so that there can be a bright future.
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Part of me is always sad this time of year. I have held far too many funerals at my church for the young boys and girls who were affected by violence before they even had a chance at life. Thanksgiving is often the most difficult holiday for their families as they realize their loved ones will not be at the table. I pray for these departed souls and thank them for the life they brought to us in their short time on earth. I thank them for teaching us to cherish life.
Most of all, I thank God for guiding me into this life. He knew the ways before I took the first step. He came up in almost every conversation I had on this trip. Not a single detail has escaped His attention.
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I am deeply grateful that He guides me in this life, because if He can guide a man like me thus far, He can guide each of us home.
The journey continues. The promise holds. Hope remains strong. And my thanks to all of you comes from my heart.
CLICK HERE TO PASTOR COREY BROOKS
