I Have a Dream
August 28, 2010 10:32
I find it so odd that, over the course of time, as humanity has tried to reconcile differences, heal old wounds, new and inherited, to move toward peace and equal opportunity, how can some still seek to covet power, and to achieve at the cost of others. When so many have shown the path to justice and liberty, there still are always present those who cling with angry claws to the very things that divide us still today... as though Humanity keeps flipping the coin of hatred and division. Neither side of such a coin is valuable. Like Dante's souls we still face the same challenges inherent in Human Nature. The Human Condition... prone to tear us apart... over and over again.
The founding of America was a great attempt to lay a foundation to over come this tendency of mankind. Setting into word AND law the opportunity for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, it recognized certain inalienable rights... Rights granted to everyone by God, not by man... No man, no Government should assume to be able to personally grant such rights. It is arrogant. It is corrupt. The Constitution was seeking to create a "more Perfect" nation... For the first time in the history of man, a place was created from scratch to allow the OPPORTUNITY for prosperity and life. We are not perfect but we try in earnest to improve. At least we are Free to Choose.
In America's past, we had our walls. And as we tear one wall, a new one is built. In a perversion of equality (seeking to make up for inequality) a new wall or division is created. We just seem to flip the same coin. Why? Why do we draw boxes and walls around groups, races, religions, political parties, sexual preference, professions, classes, etc? We categorize, generalize, victimize and demonize. These are divisive actions, not unitive.
It is not a small thing, in mankind, that each generation must learn the bitter lessons of the past in order to avoid the pitfalls of the future. Yet we never seem to learn well enough to keep the walls of inequality and division from being rebuilt, made taller or stronger. These are the eternal challenges of humanity.
In 1963, when I was three years old, a brave man...an individual, came to the feet of Abraham Lincoln to share his hopes and his dreams. When he said, "The Glory of the Lord will be revealed and the flesh shall see it together" he tore down those walls of Euro White and African Black. He said "together" The dream is not exclusive - it is unifying. It is not only for some, but for all. He asked us not to "judge us not by the color of our skin, but on the content of our character." Character cannot be seen on the surface. The surface can be deceptive. Character can only be demonstrated and revealed through our words and most importantly, our deeds. These notions, and thoughts expressed, with great humility, by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. are are universal. They are eternal.
Freedom comes to those who open themselves up to it. A softening of the heart and mind must be accomplished to let peace and freedom in. Anger, vitriol, and resentment block the grace that flows as freedom. Freedom is an inalienable right. Freedom is a state of mind, expressed in Love and only Love... for fellow man, and all of God's creatures. No one or No thing is exempt.
Today...today and only today it is the very moment for to open ourselves. Today is always this day. It is now...this moment. The past is done. It is unchangeable. It is only a two dimensional record. Tomorrow, too is an abstraction of "What if's" It absolutely is determined by TODAY.
Just know that it is a lonely journey...an intensely personal journey. And as sure as we are born, then each of us must learn, grow, love and strive with every breath to live up to these principles. With every breath and every action we plant seeds for tomorrow. That is a great responsibility. In Canto XIII, we are reminded:
"Just as the blind cannot enjoy the sun,
so to the shades I saw before me here
the light of Heaven denies its radiance.
The eyelids of these shades had been sewn shut
with iron threads, like falcons newly caught,
whose eyes we stitch to tame their restlessness.”
(translation by Mark Musa)
Can we learn from the 14th Century? Can we SEE ? Or must we be blinded first in order to see?
The founding of America was a great attempt to lay a foundation to over come this tendency of mankind. Setting into word AND law the opportunity for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, it recognized certain inalienable rights... Rights granted to everyone by God, not by man... No man, no Government should assume to be able to personally grant such rights. It is arrogant. It is corrupt. The Constitution was seeking to create a "more Perfect" nation... For the first time in the history of man, a place was created from scratch to allow the OPPORTUNITY for prosperity and life. We are not perfect but we try in earnest to improve. At least we are Free to Choose.
In America's past, we had our walls. And as we tear one wall, a new one is built. In a perversion of equality (seeking to make up for inequality) a new wall or division is created. We just seem to flip the same coin. Why? Why do we draw boxes and walls around groups, races, religions, political parties, sexual preference, professions, classes, etc? We categorize, generalize, victimize and demonize. These are divisive actions, not unitive.
It is not a small thing, in mankind, that each generation must learn the bitter lessons of the past in order to avoid the pitfalls of the future. Yet we never seem to learn well enough to keep the walls of inequality and division from being rebuilt, made taller or stronger. These are the eternal challenges of humanity.
In 1963, when I was three years old, a brave man...an individual, came to the feet of Abraham Lincoln to share his hopes and his dreams. When he said, "The Glory of the Lord will be revealed and the flesh shall see it together" he tore down those walls of Euro White and African Black. He said "together" The dream is not exclusive - it is unifying. It is not only for some, but for all. He asked us not to "judge us not by the color of our skin, but on the content of our character." Character cannot be seen on the surface. The surface can be deceptive. Character can only be demonstrated and revealed through our words and most importantly, our deeds. These notions, and thoughts expressed, with great humility, by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. are are universal. They are eternal.
Freedom comes to those who open themselves up to it. A softening of the heart and mind must be accomplished to let peace and freedom in. Anger, vitriol, and resentment block the grace that flows as freedom. Freedom is an inalienable right. Freedom is a state of mind, expressed in Love and only Love... for fellow man, and all of God's creatures. No one or No thing is exempt.
Today...today and only today it is the very moment for to open ourselves. Today is always this day. It is now...this moment. The past is done. It is unchangeable. It is only a two dimensional record. Tomorrow, too is an abstraction of "What if's" It absolutely is determined by TODAY.
Just know that it is a lonely journey...an intensely personal journey. And as sure as we are born, then each of us must learn, grow, love and strive with every breath to live up to these principles. With every breath and every action we plant seeds for tomorrow. That is a great responsibility. In Canto XIII, we are reminded:
"Just as the blind cannot enjoy the sun,
so to the shades I saw before me here
the light of Heaven denies its radiance.
The eyelids of these shades had been sewn shut
with iron threads, like falcons newly caught,
whose eyes we stitch to tame their restlessness.”
(translation by Mark Musa)
Can we learn from the 14th Century? Can we SEE ? Or must we be blinded first in order to see?