Nightmares are dreams too...

 

Today is a day in which we celebrate the life, mission and ministry of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Additionally, the nation will throw partisanship aside and celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama for a second term.  This year, 2013 is a very important year, the 50^th Anniversary of the March on Washington will be celebrated in August.  At the March on Washington, Dr. King delivered his “I have a dream speech.”  This year also marks the 150^th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln, which freed thousands of enslaved people.  

I’m very excited about the events and celebrations today.  What I ponder most is: In 2013, has the dream and vision that Dr. King had for our nation come to pass?  Yes, we have a black president.  But the dream of Dr. King is so much more than that.  We often forget that nightmares are dreams too.  After today’s reflections on Dr. King’s speeches, the inaugural pomp and pageantry, America will awaken to a nightmare.  We will awaken to a society where the divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ continues to grow.  We will awaken to packed prisons, bourgeoning numbers of homelessness, a grieving community in Connecticut mourning the loss of little innocent children and their caregivers who were simply going to school or work.  We will awaken to a nightmare where teenage and youth suicides are at an all-time high.  We will awaken to suffering people who cannot afford adequate healthcare, struggling single parents, war and its aftermath, senseless murders, drug infested neighborhoods and the list goes on.

Every dream and nightmare ends with an awakening.  Even though we are in a chaotic nightmare, the dream of Dr. King can be revived with a great awakening that this country has never seen before in its history.  It is time for us to awaken into peace, love, unity, equality for all, regardless of color, gender or socioeconomic status.  You too, can be a part of the new “Great Awakening.” We are at a great confluence as a nation.  Allow the words of  the prophet Micah, speaking to us through eternity, be the launching pad to propel us into the new “Great Awakening” of our nation.  “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”  Micah 6:8.  Beloved, we can end this nightmare.  The new “Great Awakening” is upon us.  It’s time to wake up.  The dream must live on, in and through us.  We give thanks for the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and all the possibilities that await us.  

Peace,
Karsten