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Monday, January 21, 2008
Dr. King and his Dream Today we commemorate a great man and his life's work. We do so because he was
a spiritual leader that created an unimaginable change in the world that we are still seeing today. He consciously chose to
create a world he wanted to live in. We can and must do the same. Dr. King was not just a leader that we should follow but
a mentor that we should strive to emulate. I remember reading that Dr. King was a reluctant warrior. He was a man of peace
and initially did not want to pick up the sword. He was a preacher and the idea of facing the police and their guns and dogs,
and getting arrested was obviously something no one wants to do.
The question we must ask ourselves
is what makes a person willing to give up all they have to go after all they want. Dr. King could no longer stand by and watch
the injustice, the cruelty and the suffering that a system of inequality and injustice wrought on society in general and the
African American community specifically. A dream was born from a nightmare and Dr. King knew he had the responsibility to
do all he could to make his dream a reality, not just for the oppressed but also for the oppressors. In our lives we have
our dreams and we have our nightmares. If we are living anything less than our dream we are the oppressed and yet we are also
our own oppressors. Only we can stand up to ourselves and bring an end to our suffering.
In
the Bible, Cain asks God, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The question goes unanswered but it is clear that Dr.
King believed that the answer was yes, even if that brother beats and curses us. That does not mean that we roll over and
be stepped on and kicked but quite the opposite. True love can sometimes come in the form of revolution, internal and external.
When things are so out of whack it may be that we must raise our courage, stand up and step forward. We must claim our brilliance,
our strength and our birthright, even if others seek to deny us. The only true denial can come from within. What is given
by spirit can not be taken away, but it can be ignored. Dr. King chose to ignore no longer and chose to illuminate a society
blinded by ignorance and replace it with the light of love.
Can we endeavor to do the same.
Can we claim our brilliance and live a life of love? Can we follow Dr. King's example and raise our courage to banish
our ignorance? The ignorance I speak of is an ignorance of our scared souls and the courage I ask of us is the courage to
live our authentic lives. We have our dreams but do dare live them?
11:10 am est
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