Tip of My Iceberg

photo courtesy of Unseen Histories on Unsplash

Growing up, my dream was to own my own pony, which became owning a horse as I got older. My Dad, who’d been raised on a farm, wished he could get me what I wanted, but it wasn’t possible. Living in the Chicago suburbs wasn’t conducive to keeping a horse.

My Dad was very wise. As I was leaving for college, he reminded me not to forget to pray for my pony. He wasn’t referring to an actual animal, but to not ignore the dreams I had, the things in life that seem impossible.

The sad fact is many people today have forgotten how to dream, how to anticipate with hope what they can’t yet see.

We celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday today, and what has always impressed me is his tenacity in clinging to his dreams. On August 28, 1963, King delivered a passionate speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a powerful call for racial justice, equality, and an end to all forms of discrimination. It was a hope-filled speech to inspire listeners with the validity of the American dream for all people living in the US.

What Dr. King dreamed of was personal and for the good of all people who live in this country.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream….This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning, ‘My country, ’tis of Thee, sweet land of liberty,…’ And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true….When we allow freedom to ring–when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, Great God Almighty, we are free at last.’”

Freedom is why people left their own countries to make the rough trip to this unknown land. At one time, most of us living here were immigrants. Dr. King’s dream was that everyone who comes here will have that possibility.

This is in alignment with what God’s intent for all people has been. In Genesis 1:27: “So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” God created each of us to reflect His nature, with our intellect, will, and emotion. All of us exhibit these qualities; it makes us more alike than different.

When God sent Jesus as our Messiah, it solidified us even more as one body, for all of us need His saving grace equally. “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For all are one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28. God’s intent for all of mankind was unity that each of us could experience, no matter our ethnicity, background, or socio-economic status.

Dr. King longed for us in America to reflect a unified spirit that would allow all of us to live and work together in harmony.

A wonderful dream.

Like my pony, it’s a value worth praying for. Because it’s a dream we can’t accomplish on our own.

With God’s help, dreams are possible.