Fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience.
1 Timothy 1:18b-19
Jonathan Daniels (1965)
Took a Bullet
Jonathan joined the US civil rights movement in March 1965 when Martin Luther King called for volunteers to go to Selma, Alabama, where Afro-Americans were campaigning for black voter registration. Jonathan, who three years earlier had been through a “re-conversion” experience after a period of rebellion against his Christian upbringing, initially agreed to go for a few days but stayed for longer. The seminary student lived with an Afro-American family and represented the Church Society for Cultural and Racial Unity. Jonathan wanted to help fellow white Americans accept people of another colour as equal citizens, but those who sided with Afro-Americans were often hated.
In August he joined a demonstration in Lowndes County, Alabama, which resulted in a stand-off between blacks and whites. The police moved in and Jonathan, along with many other demonstrators, was arrested. After a week in jail they were released. Jonathan, along with fellow activists and 16-year-old Ruby Sales, went from the prison to a grocery store to buy a drink. Volunteer deputy sheriff Tom L Coleman appeared with a shotgun, shouting, “Goddamn Niggers, get off this property before I blow your damned brains out!” He threatened Ruby, pointing the gun at her, and as he fired the weapon, Jonathan pulled the teenager down – taking the bullet intended for her. The 26-year-old died instantly having saved the young girl’s life. Coleman was arrested, tried and acquitted by an all-white jury. In 1991 Jonathan was designated as a martyr of the Episcopal Church.
O Prince of Glory,
who dost bring Thy sons
to glory through the Cross,
Let us not shrink from suffering
Reproach or loss.
Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)