To me sitting back this morning and reflecting it seems only fittings. In these times of trouble, these times of constant turmoil we should have a voice. “I have a dream.” The voice says and we stop for a moment. We all have dreams. We all close our eyes and think of the majesty of the universe. Of what is possible when we all, pulling together, stop fighting for a moment. “I have a dream.” Dr. King, today the day we celebrate you and your voice we need that voice again. It seems unfair to call again upon one who gave his life so that others could be free. To call again on Dr. King and ask him for guidance. Ask him for a path out of a hole we have dug. “I have a dream.”
It may be true that laws and federal action cannot change bad internal attitudes, but they can control the external effects of those internal attitudes. The law may not be able to make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me. …
We must stand up now not for ourselves alone, but in order to carry our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding Fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. …
So in the days ahead, let us not sink into the quicksands of violence; rather let us stand on the high ground of love and noninjury. Let us continue to be strong spiritual anvils that will wear out many a physical hammer.
Dr. Martin Luther King.
Yes in the midst of turmoil, we again turn to the words of the one who died by violence. Let us again hear the voice of the one willing to give his life so that others could be free. But also let us remember, there are no lights that shine only on the chosen, for we are all chosen. We believe all to be created equal. If all are equal then we are all the same. There is no light rising in the night to point out the special. In his famous speech, I have a dream, Dr. King gave an invocation for all of us. Not the people in the crowd that day in 1963. Not the people that walked with him or rode for him. Or stood on a bridge in Alabama and bled for him His dream was for all of us.
” I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” Dr. Martin Luther King
(A link to the full speech here) https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
My parents introduced me to Dr. King’s words. I was shattered the day he was shot. The change seemed so far away. Now many years later, his voice echoes in the world. In all this anger, we have moved sideways from our mission. We have stepped away from the dreams we were building. Let us to celebrate the man, who gave his life for all of us, let celebrate by sharing a dream. The American I love was once a beacon in the world. People flocked to America to be free. I have a dream that today, on this day, we celebrate Dr. King, we put down our anger. We stop for a moment and remember, the light does not shine on the special the light shines on all of us.
,doc