My column runs in Columbia Faith and Values today:
The least important thing about the smashing film “The Butler“ is the likelihood that Forest Whitaker will be walking away with an Oscar because of it, and that Oprah will get back to doing one of the things she does best, acting.
More importantly, a critical moral story has been retold. Like other truth-telling films, “The Butler” weaves together the personal and public in such a way that it is not only believable but convincing … read more
vitalwholeness 
Thank you for your article Tim. It is a very powerful movie and has me thinking and re-living in my mind about that explosive period of time in our country’s history. I tried explaining that period to my niece this week, who also had not even been born. Mostly I tried to explain to her about how we now take for granted the living and sharing of our lives with our neighbors, no matter the color of skin, but that it had not been that long ago in our American history when that was not the case and the great courage and sacrifice it took to affect the changes. I could tell that she was stunned that it had not been that long ago when classrooms, lunch counters, restrooms, had been segregated.
The movie also reminded me of an event in our own family’s history. In the summer of 1963, my Dad was transferred to Montgomery, Alabama. We lived in a little rent home and through the summer I made friends as I prepared for school. Sometime in early August, I recall my parents talking late at night, in low voices – of course I needed to hear what they were saying, so I eavesdropped and heard Daddy say “we need to get the H…. out of here… this whole state is going to explode!” Within a couple of weeks, we were moving on to Dallas. I didn’t know what that conversation meant for the longest of times… now I know that he sensed the rising tide of violence and wanted to get us out of harm’s way.