It was late in the night on August 27, 1963. A young preacher struggled with what he would say the next day. He had a couple of ideas, but he would only be given enough time to elaborate on one. The congregation listening would be large, and the people were desperately in need of something that would give them hope, something that would encourage them, something that would inspire them. By 4 AM, the preacher stopped struggling - perhaps the refuge of a couple of hours of sleep would help. It did not.
The next day, a decision was made, and the sermon was typed. It should be ok, hopefully. Perhaps, with the other speakers going before him, and the amazing and powerful singer who would perform, the day would not be a total failure - probably nothing to long remember, nothing to write home about, nothing to tell your grandchildren about someday – but ok.
And, finally, it was his turn. He began, sticking closely to the script, making decent, if not inspiring, points to the restless audience along the way. But, as he neared the end of his prepared words, he realized that a sentence he was about to read was awkwardly written, “clunky” even. So, he improvised. And, as he did, he realized that the improvised words were beginning to capture the crowd’s attention. There followed a moment of silence in which he, in his mind, debated how to finish – “Should I use the script, or should I say something else?”
In that silence, the voice of the amazing and powerful singer was heard: “Tell them about the dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!” said Mahalia Jackson. And from the steps of The Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King put aside his script and stepped into the pages of history with some of the most inspiring words ever spoken as he eloquently, sweetly, and movingly told the huge crowd of his dream of an America no longer divided by the color of our skin. His words still resonate with people of good will.
“So what?”, the cynic says. “Just look at the mess this Nation is in now, 57 years after Dr.King’s “dream”. What good was his dream? What good are my dreams?”
I believe The Holy Spirit gave Dr. King that dream, just as was promised to the followers of Christ on the day The Church began on Pentecost. And so, Dr. King’s dream is sacred and holy. Dr. King’s dream is good because it still gives us something to work toward.
Dr. King shared his dream, and he devoted his life to his dream, and many others have joined him since that day in working toward seeing that dream come true. Because of this, Dr. King’s dream is actually much closer to being reality today than it was 57 years ago. I know that today’s headlines and frightening images are screaming a different story. But that only serves to obscure the fact that much progress has been made. Yes, there is much more to do. But what if Mahalia Jackson had not spoken into the silence that day? What if Dr. King had not been moved to “tell them about the dream”? Can you imagine how much different, how much worse things would be today if Dr. King had not shared his dream? Can you not see in all of this the hand and the voice of God? Or was that only “thunder”?
The dreams given to us by The Holy Spirit for The Kingdom of God, and for what we can do for The Kingdom, are just as sacred and holy as Dr. King’s dream. Those good dreams are given for a wonderful purpose. The Kingdom needs your dream. The Kingdom needs you to devote your life to your dream. The Kingdom needs you to bring others to join you in working toward your dream – something that can only happen when you share your dream with your Faith Family.
I hope you are listening. May your heart be open to the dreams of The Kingdom that The Spirit is giving you.
~Shepherd Ambrose Ramsey
