This coming Monday is my birthday and I am fortunate to share this day with Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Growing up, my parents had a massive picture of him on the table above our living room TV. So I would see his face every day.
When you think of the most momentous thing he offered the world, What would that be?
Most of us think of one thing, that Martin had a dream. A Large dream. A dream that he believed in. A vision he had faith in. He described within this great speech that this dream fuels him and gives his day to day efforts energy. That even in difficult times his dream remained intact.
His dream was the realization of Equality. To let freedom ring from the mountain tops. All races and religions celebrating life together. Getting through our struggles together, as brothers and sisters.
In my most recent meditation on Dr. King, something else struck me that I've never thought of before. Something hiding in plain sight that gave massive potency to his dream. What I saw was that dream was HIGHLY DETAILED. It wasn't just... I want us all to get along. The End.
No. Through his words, he invited us to see what it looked like:
"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
...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.
....Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. "
In this speech, Dr. King exemplified how to have a dream; how big a dream could be. The importance of a detailed desire held with belief and faith in its arrival. And furthermore, the importance of holding it even through the greatest trials and tribulations.
That was his dream. With all the bells and whistles. What's my dream? What's yours?
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