I Have a Dream!

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day.  It’s a day when we honor a man who died before I was even born, but his legacy lives on and his powerful words still ring true today.  Most of us have heard or read his speech – “I Have a Dream”, and in school we studied the history of racism and segregation, but I have to admit, I really never experienced the violence and abuse first hand.

When I was ten years old, my family lived in a suburb south east of Oklahoma City, near a military base.  I never visited the base and really didn’t know much about their way of life, but many of my grade-school friends had parents who were active in the military.  Therefore, our classrooms were very diversified; I had a friend who was born in Hawaii and another who lived most of his life in Germany.  We were a mix of kids from all over the world… from many different cultures and race, but for this one year, we were known as Ms. Halbert’s Fourth-Grade Class. 

One day, I overheard some classroom parents talking about our class.  One mother was saying to another, “Do you realize in this classroom the ‘white kids’ have become the minority?  My husband and I are thinking about pulling our son out of this school district and placing him in a healthier environment.”  I was shocked and confused.  I didn’t understand what she meant by the ‘white kids’.  I have a little Indian in me.  Did I fall in that category?  Was I one of those ‘unhealthy’ kids that she didn’t want her son socializing with anymore?  Of course, after all of these years, I understand what she meant, but to us, we were all one in the same.  We were ALL friends.  We didn’t allow our cultural differences to stand in our way, and we certainly didn’t judge each other by the colors of our skin.  I think the adults could have learned a lot from Ms. Halbert’s class.

“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.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today in church, Dr. Gorrell asked the congregation to wear their favorite team colors.  We came in our OU crimson, our OSU orange pride, and some were sporting their blue NBA Thunder jerseys.  We were a motley crew, to say the least.  At the beginning of the service, Dr. Gorrell asked us to look around the room and witness the diversity of our congregation.  He then went on to explain, outside of the walls of the church, we all come from many different cultures… we even cheer for different teams… but we are all united as one when we come together on Sunday to worship our savior Jesus Christ.  And so, today we wear our many team colors to applaud our diversity and to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.  I looked around the room, taking in the many colors, and I was overwhelmed with emotions.  I had never really thought of it like that, but he was right.  We are all different in our own way and yet, we are ALL God’s children.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall

to the ground outside your Father’s care.” – Matthew 10:29

Dr. Gorrell left us with a challenge this week: to find someone who is different than us, and make him/her feel appreciated and valued.  I challenge you to do the same.  In what ways this week can you show someone that he/she is worthy and loved?  And in what ways this week will others show you the same courtesy?