Don't YOU have a dream, Mommy?

   

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

How do you explain the significance of this holiday to a 4 year old?

Maybe you don't need to.

Maybe she just needs to witness her mama sitting in the car in the parking lot at the grocery store, crying her eyes out to the tune of,

I have a dream

that my four little children will one day live in a nation 

where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, 

but by the content of their character.

Maybe it's enough.  Dear God, please let it be enough.  Let this man's life stand as a witness not just to racial prejudice, but also to moral and economic injustice.  Let my kids see the better world they live in, instead of the worse one.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. 

Then I remembered standing in my kitchen, the night Barack Obama was named the next president of the United States and I turned to my husband and said, "this is an amazing moment in history, and here we are standing in the middle of it."

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

I remember a class full of Navajo kids.  We sang Jesus Loves me in Navajo.  I still remember the syllables, carefully burned into my memory.  But mostly I remember wishing that I could live in the dorms like the other kids.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

Fast forward to that parking lot, again, today.  I found myself doing the cliche...
"Martin was kind of like Jesus, honey.  He didn't get to come back to life, but his story will never end."

My husband finally turned off the radio and we went in to buy our new running shoes and bananas and whatever other inconsequential stuff was on our list today.
But I hope my girl will remember.  Today is about a dream.  What's your dream?

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.