(A meditation on December 25, January 15 and July 4)
By Ken Woodley
Jesus Christ of Nazareth had a dream.
He had been to the mountaintop.
Jesus had a dream that we would love our neighbors as ourselves.
That we would turn the other cheek.
That those who hunger and thirst for righteousness would be filled.
He had a dream about the blessedness of peacemakers and he called them children of God.
Jesus had a dream that you and I are the light of the world and that we would let that light shine so bright that it would give light to everyone in the house.
Yes, Jesus very definitely had a dream.
And he was not alone.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also had a dream.
He had been to the mountaintop.
Dr. King had a dream that the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners would one day sit down at the table of brotherhood.
That the heat of injustice would be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
He had a dream that one day his children would live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
That one day little black boys and black girls would be able to join hands with little white boys and girls as sisters and brothers.
Yes, Jesus Christ of Nazareth and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. very definitely had a dream.
And they were not alone.
The United States of America also had a dream.
It had been to the mountaintop.
The United States had a dream about truths that were so obvious that they were self-evident.
A dream that all people are created equal.
That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.
A dream about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
A dream about forming a more perfect union.
A trinity of dreamers and dreams that share so much in common:
Peace. Love. Humanity.
None of them was, or is, a danger to anybody.
They are fiercely innocent.
But they are so utterly vulnerable.
The first dream was crucified with hammers and nails.
The second was assassinated by a single finger on a trigger.
And the third dream was pursued by its own dreamers—hunted down by lynch ropes and chains. The Liberty Bell didn’t crack on July 4, 1776 because it was rung so hard for so long. No, it cracked because liberty rang for far too few people on that day. For African Americans, the liberty bell made no sound at all that day.
They were, and are, still so vulnerable. They are stalked daily by a darkness that does not understand the light that fills them and shines through them.
The dark divisions of hate surround them.
Back them into a corner.
Certain that one day they will smother the light.
That’s where we come in.
You and I have a question to answer:
What happens to those dreams?
Where do they go from here?
Each of those dreamers articulated a vision that has—so far—been beyond humanity’s ability to make come fully true for everyone.
The United States of America, in fact, failed to grasp the full meaning of its own dream, believing for far too long that its life, liberty and pursuit of happiness were meant only for white males of a certain social stature.
January 15 is the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who we honor on January 20 with a national holiday. But there are still some who would like to make that dream—and the challenge it still sets for our nation—disappear.
Just as the hammers and the nails sought to erase the meaning and message of Jesus Christ, whose birthday carols still ring in our ears.
But the assassin’s bullet failed and the instruments of crucifixion were unable to complete their mission.
Dreams filled with the light and love of God cannot be eradicated.
The love of God for all people—and the light of that truth—cannot be hammered and nailed out of existence. It cannot be assassinated.
But the struggle to reach the light of that love to all people is very real. The darkness of this world is no joke. It is alive and well and living in the human heart.
Even, sometimes, our own.
But the light, too, is alive and well and reaches for our wrinkles and veins, yearns for our heart, longing to go where only our footsteps can take it.
We are the light of the world. Jesus said so. I believe him.
God didn’t light up our souls so that we could hide behind locked doors and shuttered windows.
God lit up our souls so that we would shine, shine, shine.
And that is what we must do because we are in a desperate race, you and I, a relay of light against the darkness. We must run the light of healing love and reconciliation as far as we can.
We run it to those living in darkness and despair, and then they run their own light as far as their lives can take it.
Because the darkness has its own footsteps, the footsteps of those who try to divide us over race, separate us because of the color of our skin, segregate us over the language that we speak, partition us over how we choose to pray to God, disjoin us because of who we choose to love.
The relay of light is no spectator sport. There is no sitting on the sidelines. If we don’t run our light into the world the vacuum of our absence will be filled with the darkness of division.
There are hundreds of thousands of ways, large and small and none insignificant, to shine our light into the world toward one another, to heal and reconcile.
A light that might inspire a nation.
A light that Jesus knows is inside us.
A light that Dr. King, who preached the Gospel of Christ, saw from the mountaintop.
A light the United States of America declared over and over and over until it finally began to believe its own declaration.
A light in which their three dreams—walking in your footsteps—can gather, join hands and say:
Hallelujah.
(A meditation on December 25, January 15 and July 4)By Ken Woodley
Jesus Christ of Nazareth had a dream.
He had been to the mountaintop.
Jesus had a dream that we would love our neighbors as ourselves.
That we would turn the other cheek.
That those who hunger and thirst for righteousness would be filled.
He had a dream about the blessedness of peacemakers and he called them children of God.
Jesus had a dream that you and I are the light of the world and that we would let that light shine so bright that it would give light to everyone in the house.
Yes, Jesus very definitely had a dream.
And he was not alone.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also had a dream.
He had been to the mountaintop.
Dr. King had a dream that the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners would one day sit down at the table of brotherhood.
That the heat of injustice would be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
He had a dream that one day his children would live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
That one day little black boys and black girls would be able to join hands with little white boys and girls as sisters and brothers.
Yes, Jesus Christ of Nazareth and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. very definitely had a dream.
And they were not alone.
The United States of America also had a dream.
It had been to the mountaintop.
The United States had a dream about truths that were so obvious that they were self-evident.
A dream that all people are created equal.
That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.
A dream about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
A dream about forming a more perfect union.
A trinity of dreamers and dreams that share so much in common:
Peace. Love. Humanity.
None of them was, or is, a danger to anybody.
They are fiercely innocent.
But they are so utterly vulnerable.
The first dream was crucified with hammers and nails.
The second was assassinated by a single finger on a trigger.
And the third dream was pursued by its own dreamers—hunted down by lynch ropes and chains. The Liberty Bell didn’t crack on July 4, 1776 because it was rung so hard for so long. No, it cracked because liberty rang for far too few people on that day. For African Americans, the liberty bell made no sound at all that day.
They were, and are, still so vulnerable. They are stalked daily by a darkness that does not understand the light that fills them and shines through them.
The dark divisions of hate surround them.
Back them into a corner.
Certain that one day they will smother the light.
That’s where we come in.
You and I have a question to answer:
What happens to those dreams?
Where do they go from here?
Each of those dreamers articulated a vision that has—so far—been beyond humanity’s ability to make come fully true for everyone.
The United States of America, in fact, failed to grasp the full meaning of its own dream, believing for far too long that its life, liberty and pursuit of happiness were meant only for white males of a certain social stature.
January 15 is the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who we honor on January 20 with a national holiday. But there are still some who would like to make that dream—and the challenge it still sets for our nation—disappear.
Just as the hammers and the nails sought to erase the meaning and message of Jesus Christ, whose birthday carols still ring in our ears.
But the assassin’s bullet failed and the instruments of crucifixion were unable to complete their mission.
Dreams filled with the light and love of God cannot be eradicated.
The love of God for all people—and the light of that truth—cannot be hammered and nailed out of existence. It cannot be assassinated.
But the struggle to reach the light of that love to all people is very real. The darkness of this world is no joke. It is alive and well and living in the human heart.
Even, sometimes, our own.
But the light, too, is alive and well and reaches for our wrinkles and veins, yearns for our heart, longing to go where only our footsteps can take it.
We are the light of the world. Jesus said so. I believe him.
God didn’t light up our souls so that we could hide behind locked doors and shuttered windows.
God lit up our souls so that we would shine, shine, shine.
And that is what we must do because we are in a desperate race, you and I, a relay of light against the darkness. We must run the light of healing love and reconciliation as far as we can.
We run it to those living in darkness and despair, and then they run their own light as far as their lives can take it.
Because the darkness has its own footsteps, the footsteps of those who try to divide us over race, separate us because of the color of our skin, segregate us over the language that we speak, partition us over how we choose to pray to God, disjoin us because of who we choose to love.
The relay of light is no spectator sport. There is no sitting on the sidelines. If we don’t run our light into the world the vacuum of our absence will be filled with the darkness of division.
There are hundreds of thousands of ways, large and small and none insignificant, to shine our light into the world toward one another, to heal and reconcile.
A light that might inspire a nation.
A light that Jesus knows is inside us.
A light that Dr. King, who preached the Gospel of Christ, saw from the mountaintop.
A light the United States of America declared over and over and over until it finally began to believe its own declaration.
A light in which their three dreams—walking in your footsteps—can gather, join hands and say:
Hallelujah.
Ken Woodley 