This week, I had the privilege of being a part of some celebrations commemorating the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Also, for the first time, I participated in the The National Day of Racial Healing, and with February, aka Black History Month, right around the corner, I have been reflecting on being God’s voice in my sphere of influence.
In elementary school, I remember being taught about Dr. King and his leadership in the movement to secure human rights for Black and all poor Americans. School lessons presented him as an ambassador for nonviolence and an architect of the civil rights movement. Beyond school, I learned that because of his crusade against global imperialism, his out-spoken opposition to the Vietnam War, and his campaign for the poor, the U.S. government considered Dr. King to be the most dangerous man in America. Almost sixty years after his assassination, we are still gleaning and learning from his revolutionary vision.
Out of all that I’ve learned from his life, I am most inspired by how his speech, “Normalcy Never Again” (from August 28, 1963) was amended. We know this as the “I Have a Dream” speech. Originally, it included nothing about a dream. Though Dr. King had referenced dreams before, he was told by his advisors not to mention them in this speech. But during his oration, singer Mahalia Jackson, The Queen of Gospel, shouted to Dr. King to tell the massive assembly about the dream. Without hesitation, Dr. King launched into an improvisation, resulting in his most recognizable rendering.
I was taught much about Dr. King as a scholar, a pastor, and a revolutionary, and I was very familiar with the vision he spoke of that day:
So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I 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 . . .
But when I learned that he was given dreams, the speech spoke to me in an entirely new way. I was enthralled and inspired by his prophetic voice! For me, this meant that Dr. King wasn’t laying out his personal goals or his ideals for the future of America, as I had been taught in elementary school. Instead, he was simply a conduit passing along God’s dream, God’s vision for us and to us. He was resonating God’s voice to ears that needed to hear of a future that encompassed hope and healing for a hurting and confused nation.
Every thought and feeling about our country’s struggle with all kinds of social -isms and schisms have been on full display for a while now. Honestly, I am somewhat relieved to see that the struggle is widespread, as opposed to isolated to a small corner of the country. Widespread means that at least we are wrestling altogether.
But as we do, I wonder, Can we dream again? Who is willing to be a conduit for God’s vision for humanity? While we are learning and unlearning, resisting and advancing, how many of us will simply be His voice — authentically, now, in this moment, for those who need to be inspired by a glimpse of the future? I pray that we have the capacity to reach for dreams that resonate beyond our today to inspire and guide future generations.
The thing about God’s dreams is that they don’t come from a place of fear, trepidation, and reservation. They are given by the One who knows the end from the beginning. They’re fashioned from love, assurance, and generosity, and they propel us forward into the future, fueled by hope. Because we trust the Dream Giver, we can employ faith to follow the visions He gives us.
Despite our rocky road, I believe that we are on the path of manifesting the dream relayed by Dr. King. As I have benefited from the dreams spoken before me, I must also be a voice resonating God’s vision beyond my today.
“In the last days,” God says,
“I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.”
Acts 2:17 (NIV)
May the future benefit from your God-given dreams, and may you have the courage to speak them into being.
Leave a Comment
Thank you so much for this insight into Dr. King’s speech!
Susan,
Thank you for reading and appreciating.
May you be God’s voice resonating healing and harmony in the earth.
Shalom
LCB
Thank you. This gives me so much to think about. I need to listen more to what God is telling me – always a struggle to hear and now to think about the possibility of putting a dream into action.
Madeline,
You’re welcome.
Thank you for reading and appreciating.
May you be encompassed with clarity and courage as you see, articulate and walk out your dreams.
May you be God’s voice resonating healing and harmony in the earth.
Shalom
LCB
You have a beautiful soul and face, and smile, God bless you.
Jo
Thank you! And thank you for reading and appreciating.
May you be God’s voice resonating healing and harmony in the earth.
Shalom
LCB
My daughter had dreams of being a mom and is unable to have child and is trying thru VIF whatever it’s called treatment. The lst surgery failed and she has one more chance. Why does God allow ungodlily women bear children and let those that want child struggle having a child. What happens to that dream or are dreams just that just dreams! Is there really a God or is it jus words in a book.
Dear friend,
I can only imagine your pain. As a woman who endured years of fertility treatments and desperate hoping I can empathize with those burning questions. As a therapist I was working with teenagers some of who found themselves pregnant and wanted nothing more than to get rid of the one thing I was begging God to give me. It seemed cruel and so terribly unfair. I can’t tell you that I ever got exactly what I wanted-to be pregnant, to experience childbirth. But I do believed something for which I didn’t even know to pray. My daughter went into foster care when she was nine months old. She came to me and my husband when she was a year and a half- and she is more my heart than any child I could have bore from my womb. Fifteen years later I can look back and see the gift God was weaving, the miracles he allowed, one of which was going to my ‘future’ daughters baby shower even when I never imagined I would someday be her mother. I am not trying to give you a pat answer, or to tell you that things will work out as your daughter hopes, but I do believe God is there in the middle of all the messy and He will come through, in ways we never imagine. I am praying for your daughter because that pain still haunts me today, that ache to hold a baby in my womb even if I am far past child bearing age- but again so was Sarah. Don’t give up. God loves to show off at the last minute. My girl is almost 16 and I wouldn’t have missed these years as her mom for anything. May God bless you and your daughter.
Tonya,
Thank you for sharing your story to encourage Julia in her pain. I appreciate how brave, thoughtful, & generous you are.
May you be God’s voice resonating healing and harmony in the earth.
Shalom
LCB
Julia.
I am so sorry to hear about your daughter’s pain. I also don’t understand why some people who don’t want children get to have them, and some who really want to birth children, don’t get to. I have no answers. When I struggled with fertility, God was with me in my pain and uncertainty.
I am praying for your daughter and her family.
Shalom
LCB
Beautiful. Realistic and what a lot Americans feel.
Sharon,
Thank you for reading and appreciating.
May you be God’s voice resonating healing and harmony in the earth.
Shalom
LCB
I was born in 1945. I graduated from high school in 1963. I, along with the rest of my generation, experienced all that transpired after the end of WWII. We can argue the magnitude of “which era is worse” all day long but for me the main difference is the seemingly lack of believing and trusting God for our answers. I see, that Dr. King never swayed from his hope and trust, while still peacefully protesting the lack of civil liberties. I see that, not all, but many still protest but not peacefully as they have forgotten the hope and trust portion of who Dr King was and all he stood for. Like the Apostle Paul, Dr. King had a mission and that mission was to serve God not man. I believe that he believed that God’s plan was to benefit mankind through following the teachings laid forth in the Bible. For me there is that lack of faithfulness to those teachings that is actually derailing the very benefits we all want. Let us pray for one another and for a revival of all that God has promised to us through the birth, life, death and resurrection of His only begotten son Jesus the Christ. Keep our light burning for the light of one small candle can dispel the darkness.
Beautifully said, Loretta! I think Dr. King would be disappointed to see the violence that has taken place in the name of racial justice. We need to do all we can to promote peace and unity in our country. May love overcome the hate and division.
Thank you for your commitment to the unity that we as a nation so desperately need and desire. The Bible tells us that what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul. We surely need to do some serious soul searching.
Loretta.
You are God’s voice resonating healing and harmony in the earth. May we focus on God’s divine love as we pursue His dream.
Thank you for reading and appreciating.
Shalom
LCB
Thank you for this inspiring and insightful message!
Molly.
You’re welcome.
Thank you for reading and appreciating.
Shalom
LCB
Amen. Thank you so much for sharing, Lucretia. Amen. That was very encouraging.
PS: Thank you so much Incourage for providing this space. Thank you for featuring a wide range of women writers to encourage, lift up, and challenge us. Thank you for your commitment to encouraging women every day.
Thank you & God bless.
B.
You’re welcome.
Thank you for reading and appreciating the voices at the (in)courage table.
Shalom
LCB
Lucretia,
I’m with you in wanting to dream again. My dream is to live in a place of unity. Where the Bible is the foundation of our country, most people pray daily, & people work together for the better good. Tired of all this civil unrest & non-peaceful protesting. Most of this generation has totally forgotten about God & what He did for us. They live day to day thinking that this is the end. When they die nothing will happen. My dream is for ALL people to have equal rights no matter what. Thank you for enlightening me about Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech.
Blessings 🙂
Beth.
I love your dream. I believe your dream aligns with God’s dream for us. Thank you for reading and appreciating.
May you be God’s voice resonating healing and harmony in the earth.
Shalom
LCB
Lucretia,
My maternal grandmother was born in 1883. She raised her children to believe that God created all of us as equals regardless of skin color or economic status. My mom and dad believed that and we grew up believing that as well.
It is heartbreaking to know that the struggle for basic God given equality is still a daily way of life for so many.
I was very young when Dr. King was working so hard for all to have equal rights. Thank you for your reminder that we can dream and work toward fulfillment of this dream. God can and will heal the brokenness if we as a nation turn back to Him.