Who Do You Plan to Be?

I am reminded of a story told by retired United Methodist Bishop Leontine Kelly. Bishop Kelly was elected to the episcopacy in the United Methodist Church in 1984, was the second woman and the first African American woman to be elected bishop of any major denomination. When she was 10 years old she lived with her parents in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father was a pastor active in the community.  One morning as she was getting ready for school, she heard a knock on the front door. She ran down the stairs to answer it. There on the step was an imposing woman with a confident air. Only later did Leontine find out that the visitor was Mary McCleod Bethune. Dr. Bethune was a prominent educator and civil rights leaders, founder of a school for African –American students in Daytona Beach, Florida that became Bethune-Cookman University, and advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was in town to raise money for her school, an effort with which Leontine’s father was helping.

Bishop Kelly says that as she looked up in awe at this imposing woman, Dr. Bethune looked down at her, with no preliminary statement or question like “how are you this morning?” or “could you go get your parents?” She simply looked at her and inquired, “Little girl, who do you plan to be?” At the moment, the fifth grade girl had no plans to be anything other than a fifth grade girl. But the question started her thinking, and it came to guide her life, gaining more and more resonance as she came to understand just who it was who was asking the question.
           
  Mary McCleod Bethune’s question is a good one: “Who do you plan to be?”   It all depends on what’s in our hearts.

[from Alyce McKenzie's blog, February 5, 2011: http://experts.patheos.com/expert/alycemckenzie/2011/02/05/whats-in-your-heart/]