THE NERVE...

AS I GET OLDER, I BECOME MORE AND MORE APPRECIATIVE OF THE FACT OUR SOCIETY SETS ASIDE A DAY TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. 

I appreciate it not because wide swaths of our society take the day as a holiday. Nor do I appreciate it because Dr. King was my colleague in the field of pastoral ministry. 

I appreciate it because the day makes me think. I appreciate it because the day spurs me to go find a writing or a speech of his to consume, for I am the kind of guy who likes to do original research rather than relying on the interpretation of others who have their own agendas.

This morning, as I went back to look at what is commonly referred to as his, "I Have a Dream" speech, I was struck by the sometimes-tragically-overlooked reality that probably his most famous lines from the day were not part of the original script. In a voice with which any of us who speak publicly would love to have been blessed, he thunders away with his dream. However, it was not part of the plan to go into that sequence. 

Indeed, those words came at the encouragement of Louisiana native Mahalia Jackson, who from the crowd implored Dr. King to, in her words, "Tell them about the dream, Martin!"

Looking back on this speech this year, a speech delivered almost 12 years to the day before I was born, I am left to wonder if we know our dreams. 

Do we know what it is we desire, and do we have the courage to summon it upon request from a good friend who has been in the trenches with us? 

Do our dreams, our desires, point to our own circumstances, or do they point to what God's will is for us, personally and societally?

Dr. King had the nerve to stand up for that in which he believed.
Mahalia Jackson had the nerve to spur Dr. King to share his heart.

Do we have the nerve to stand up for what we believe?
Do we have the nerve to push one another to articulate our message the way Mahalia Jackson pushed Dr. King?

THIS is why I appreciate the observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Well over 50 years since this speech was delivered, it still has so much to teach us, and not just from the text of the speech but also the actions, attitudes, and people central to that day in Washington so long ago.

Grace and Peace,
Lamar