A Daily Office Reflection from The Curious Pilgrim
Remembering a Summer in Mississippi
This evening after work, I began watching the film Ghosts of Mississippi, the story of the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963 and the long road to justice that finally led to the conviction of Byron De La Beckwith more than twenty-five years later.
I remember that summer vividly. I was thirteen years old. News of the assassination spread quickly across Mississippi. The tension, the anger, and the fear hung in the air.
Years later, during one of the trials, former Mississippi governor Ross Barnett walked into the courtroom and publicly congratulated Beckwith while Medgar Evers’ widow was still on the witness stand.
I remember seeing that image and feeling something deep in my spirit recoil.
Tonight, after watching the film, I turned to the Daily Office readings. To my surprise, the Scriptures spoke directly into that memory.
When Evil Calls Itself Good
Psalm 50
Psalm 50 describes people who see wrongdoing and embrace it:
“When you see a thief, you make him your friend… you give your mouth free rein for evil.”
The Psalmist is describing something we still see in every generation:
people who justify wrongdoing, excuse cruelty, or even celebrate it.
In the courtroom scene I remembered, the lines between justice and injustice seemed painfully clear. A man had been murdered for standing up for human dignity. Yet some treated the killer as a hero.
Psalm 50 reminds us that wickedness often reveals itself not only in violent acts but also in the alliances we form with wrongdoing.
Sometimes evil survives because people cheer it on.
The Human Pattern of Rebellion
Deuteronomy 9:23–10:5
In Deuteronomy, Moses reminds Israel of something uncomfortable: the people of God have often been stubborn and rebellious.
Their relationship with God was not a story of perfect obedience but a story of repeated failure and renewed grace.
Moses recounts how the tablets of the law were broken because of the people’s rebellion—and yet God gave them again.
This passage reminds me that injustice is not only “out there” among obvious villains. The human heart itself is capable of wandering far from what is right.
That is why humility is essential. We must always ask:
Where might I be blind to injustice?
The Promise of Rest
Hebrews 4:1–10
Hebrews speaks of a Sabbath rest prepared for the people of God.
This rest is more than taking a day off. It is the deep peace that comes when humanity finally lives in harmony with God’s ways—justice, mercy, truth, and compassion.
When I think about the long delay in justice for Medgar Evers’ family—over twenty-five years—I realize how weary the struggle for justice can become.
Yet Hebrews reminds us that God’s purposes are moving toward a final rest where righteousness and peace will meet.
The journey toward that rest is long, but it is not meaningless.
Light Has Come Into the World
John 3:16–21
The Gospel reading contains perhaps the most familiar words in the New Testament:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…”
But the passage continues with a sobering observation:
“Light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light.”
This is not merely ancient theology. It is an observation about human nature.
Truth exposes injustice.
Light reveals what many would rather keep hidden.
Yet Jesus did not come to condemn the world, the Gospel tells us, but to save it.
His mission was to bring light so that healing could begin.
What These Scriptures Say to Us Today
Together these readings reveal several truths that still shape our world:
• Human beings are capable of great injustice.
• Societies sometimes defend wrongdoing instead of confronting it.
• God continually calls humanity back to truth and justice.
• The light of Christ exposes darkness—not to destroy us, but to heal us.
Justice delayed, as in the Evers case, can feel like justice denied. But the long arc of history reminds us that truth has a stubborn way of resurfacing.
Darkness may hide for a time.
But light keeps returning.
A Personal Reflection
Watching Ghosts of Mississippi tonight stirred memories I had not revisited in years.
As a thirteen-year-old boy growing up in Mississippi during the Civil Rights era, I was witnessing history without fully understanding it. The tensions, the violence, the arguments about race and justice—these were not distant headlines. They were part of the world around me.
Looking back now, I see how deeply those events shaped my understanding of faith.
The God I believe in is not the defender of injustice.
The God I believe in stands with truth, dignity, and the sacred worth of every human life.
Jesus came not simply to prepare people for heaven but to bring the light of God into the darkest corners of human history.
And wherever that light shines, injustice is eventually exposed.
A Prayer
Gracious God,
You are the God of truth and justice.
When we are tempted to excuse wrongdoing or ignore suffering, open our eyes.
Give us courage to walk in the light,
humility to examine our own hearts,
and perseverance to seek justice even when the road is long.
May the light of Christ continue to shine in our world,
exposing darkness and guiding us toward your promised rest.
Amen.
The Curious Pilgrim continues walking the road—
seeking truth, learning from the past, and trusting that the light still shines in the darkness.
The Curious Pilgrim 
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