Only Light Can Do ThatSample

"I still have a dream … that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'" Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King faced 250,000 people packed into the National Mall, with the Washington Monument towering in the background. A sea of Black and White people, Catholics and Protestants, Jews and Gentiles had joined the march in support of Black people at the 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom in Washington, DC. Dr. King had worked for days on his speech for the march. He was still laboring over it in his hotel the night before and finally finished writing at 4 a.m. It was good, but there was something missing.

When the time for the speech arrived, Dr. King started reading. His friend Mahalia Jackson was sitting nearby. She didn’t recognize the usual fire in Dr. King’s words. She leaned toward the podium and whispered, “Tell them about the dream, Martin.” Her encouragement brought Dr. King back to himself. He put down the speech he had worked on so long and said the now famous words: “I still have a dream.” Energy surged through his voice as he talked freely from his heart.

Dr. King’s dream was that America would treat everyone as equal, as the Constitution says. He believed that the Constitution echoed the truth of the Bible. The apostle Paul wrote about equality in Christ because he observed that Jewish believers didn’t think Gentiles (non-Jews) could be acceptable to Jesus unless they followed Jewish rules. Jewish believers separated themselves because they felt they were closer to God. Paul corrected that view. He told them that in Christ, all believers are united in love. They were equal even if they were not the same.

Dr. King’s speech was aired on television. Newspapers wrote about it. People around the world loved it! The speech quickly became one of the most famous speeches ever delivered. People still quote from it today. Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is so loved because his vision of everyone getting along was so beautiful.

Just like Dr. King needed a little reminder to share his dream, you can remember the truth behind that dream: we were all created equal by a God who loves each of us. When we celebrate our uniqueness and respect each other—both for our differences and our similarities—we are living the dream.

Make friends with someone who is different from you.

Holy Spirit, remind me of the beauty of being diverse yet unified in Jesus.