“Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people… I have heard their cry… Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them.’” – Exodus 3:7, NRSVue
God sent Moses to confront Pharaoh, not as a lone hero but as a leader who would help the people see themselves as free. Liberation required courage, community and vision. Myles Horton, founder of the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, carried a similar vision.
He believed ordinary people already carried the wisdom needed for justice. Highlander became a daring place in the segregated South where Black and white workers, students and activists gathered as equals to learn from each other. Poor farmers, laborers, women and civil rights leaders alike came to sharpen their voices for freedom.
In the summer of 1955, Rosa Parks attended a Highlander workshop. There, she was strengthened by community, encouraged to resist and prepared for the Montgomery Bus Boycott later that year. Septima Clark, John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr. and countless unnamed grassroots leaders also found in Highlander the training and courage to press on.
Because it crossed the boundaries of race and class, Highlander was harassed, raided, even shut down. Yet Horton’s vision endured, because it was never about one man’s voice but about raising up a people. Like Moses, Horton reminds us that God’s liberating work is always collective: a people walking out of Egypt together.
Reflection Question:
– Where might God be inviting you to create space across boundaries of race, class, gender or experience, so that people can discover their collective power for justice?
Prayer: Liberating God, thank You for the witness of Myles Horton, who dared to believe that everyday people carry the seeds of justice and freedom. Give us his courage to trust in community, his vision to see possibility where others see limits and his perseverance to confront the Pharaohs of our time. Make us builders of beloved community, walking together toward the freedom You promise. Amen.
This passage is originally found in the 2026 Emmanuel McCall Lenten Devotional series, prepared by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship family and friends. Register to receive the daily devotional here.
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