"With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood."I had probably just read King's I Have a Dream speech with my history class I was teaching at the time. I do love that speech, it is pretty amazing.
I remember that King became one of my heroes after doing a research paper on him in college. He certainly wasn't perfect, no human is, but his philosophy of nonviolence was one I could admire and his determination to sacrifice his own personal comfort and safety was courageous. Sure, it can take courage to fight with violence, although if someone hits me, my desire to hit them back isn't necessarily out of courage as much as it may be out of self defense, defense of a loved one, or anger. Fighting back nonviolently is absolutely courageous and I question if I would really have the courage to do what so many did back then.
I was thinking about how in this season of political fighting and pointing fingers, we need to stop and acknowledge that we haven't reached this dream of King's yet, and we may never this side of heaven because of our sinful, selfish, human nature. But every step toward improving relationships, every step toward helping our fellow brother and sister, regardless of race, religion, nationality, political stance, etc. is a step in the right direction. I don't know what the right political answer is...I often can see merit on what both sides of the political spectrum say and often times believe the motives are similar, the desired outcome is similar, but the method is different.
I do know what the right moral answer is:
Mark 12:30-31 " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”If we all look inside our own hearts and ask what I can do to love my neighbor as myself, not just point fingers at what everyone else is doing wrong or not doing in order to lessen the guilt of our own inaction or excuse our poor actions, I think we would be closer to fulfilling this dream.
We have to be willing to admit as a nation, that years and years of slavery, oppression, and segregation and the rippling effects of it, don't just go away overnight because a law is passed. We may not have been the slave owners, or those fighting to keep segregation, but regardless of our role or our ancestors' role, there are people living in this country whose ancestors suffered. They were caught in a system that put them at a disadvantage, and that had a lasting impact on their descendants.
There are always success stories and people who overcome. We like to point to those people and say, "well, if they did it, why can't you?" As I worked with students for years who came from very disadvantaged situations, I began to realize that it takes an extraordinary person to overcomes so many obstacles. I had to ask that honest question of what if I were in their shoes? Would I have fought to overcome the myriad of obstacles getting in my way or would I have succumbed to them? I am not confident in what that answer would be. It makes me recognize and admire the fortitude and tenacity of those children who do overcome, and not scorn those children who don't. It keeps me humble in my attitude. Our arrogance makes us want to list of all the ways we've been "disadvantaged" in our lives, as if it is a good excuse to ignore some of the problems our country is facing, but I think that only serves to deepen the divide.
I think some people don't want to admit we still have racial problems in our country because they are afraid it will shed a bad light on our country, or it hurts their pride. I know that's in part why it makes me uncomfortable! But we don't have to be perfect or have it all together to be a great country. I think we live in a great country. But we never need be afraid of the truth. There is strength in admitting our weaknesses and taking an honest account of where we are so we can work to improve it. That's a strength of our country, it has a constitution that was made to be flexible, with built in processes to adjust and improve. To say we don't need to improve is arrogant.
I wish we could say that we had transformed from the "jangling discord of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood", but I don't think we can. I think we are a lot closer than we were 53 years ago in the arena of race and we should acknowledge that. Consider this, if I had lived in the time period my grandparents were married (1930's), I would not have been legally allowed to marry Chris because I am white and he is Filipino. If I had married in my parents' time period (1960's), it would have been legal but probably not supported by the community. Then you consider that, to my knowledge, no one batted an eye, no one protested our union, in 2013, when we did marry; that's definitely improvement. Although I do have other friends who are interracial couples where there were issues because of the color of their skin.
Improvement doesn't give us the right to get apathetic or complacent in pressing on toward that final goal. Look at the news, listen to the anger people are expressing, and you hear a lot of discord trying to drown out all the harmony that does exists. There is a reason for the anger that is there. You may believe those reasons are credible, or you may not, but the anger is still there, and ignoring it or trying to shame it won't make it go away and it won't heal the nation and the age old wounds that still exist.
While I think there is a lot more racial sensitivity than there used to be in the past in our country, I feel like we have no regard for sensitivity in other areas. Listen to how people degrade each other based on their political beliefs, their religious beliefs, their looks, the part of the world they grew up in, their careers, or the amount of money they have. We should be working to improve not only race relations but human relations in general. If we strive to put others first with no pre-requisites of who they are or what category they fit in, if we strive to understand each other in a spirit of humility and love, we will be even closer to King's dream than we are now.
Final thoughts from James chapter 1, because I love the book of James:
James 1:19-27 - 19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
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