“I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”
~ From Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech

Today we celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., one of my favorite figures from our country’s history.  His legacy resounds with me for two reasons.

He addressed the glaring issue of racism, knowing that it would invite fierce opposition. We don’t like to acknowledge how deeply racism has scarred American history, but there have been many injustices small and great, based solely on the color of skin. King stepped in and began to dig up what had become very hardened ground in the hearts of American citizens, and he did so with a courage that few possessed.

Second, he motivated us to envision and strive for a different kind of America. King’s challenge remains strong today: release your lazy intellectual stereotypes. Start looking at people as individuals, instead of categorizing them based on superficial standards.

Racism is much easier than love. If I can group a person into a class and label that entire class, I no longer have to decide how to love them. It’s automatic. We say, “Oh, she’s one of those people,” and move on. No thought or effort required.

I appreciate the way King’s message pushed all of us, regardless of skin color, to take the hard path of love, to rise out of our stereotypes, and to begin to see each other as people bathed in the image of God.

Take 18 minutes this week to watch King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and consider again how we can make that dream our own.

Tim has posted a thoughtful article at Black Coffee Reflections about teenagers and whether or not they are being presented with a false dream to pursue…

My main problem is the “dream” that we sell our kids. As you know, it goes something like this: If you get good grades, and are balanced with music, sports, theater, you can gain entrance into a good college, and if you do well there, you can land a great job, marry a great person, get a nice home, vacation wherever you want, and do whatever you want to do.” In our Christian homes, we add “and make a commitment to Jesus …” making it the Christian dream.

I don’t know anyone, literally, who does whatever they want to do. Even rock-stars don’t do whatever they want. (Not even if it appears that way on stage).

It’s sad to hear a parent or anyone simply try and add Christ to a faulty set of values.  It’s another case of compartmentalizing our faith into bits and pieces, with Christ being one of the ingredients for success.  Christ cannot be added on to anything.  He is “one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”*

It all starts there, with Christ.  What would happen if throughout the teenage years they are taught that following Christ is the most adventurous and fulfilling dream they can pursue, that it’s the dream closest to the core of their purpose as a human?  We may not see so many rush off to college right after high school, having no clue why.

Perhaps, with a Christ-centric perspective, they would consider a year on the mission field.  Or they would choose a year of experience with someone who is excelling in a field they have a passion for. Or they would take an extended period away and stay in a monastery to learn how work and prayer are connected.

The options are limitless, and most of those types of decisions would result in an education far more valuable than what’s involved in a college degree.  Don’t misunderstand me to say that a college education isn’t valuable.  I believe it is.  However, it must be connected to a much larger picture for a person’s life.  It’s value is greatly diminished when it simply becomes the “next thing you do after high school.”

So I think it’s not that teenagers are pushed too hard.  I think it’s that they are often pushed toward the wrong goals and the wrong dreams.  Why?  Because they are often pressured by their parents toward a life their parents never had: a life without struggle or pain.

As a former youth minister, I heard this theme repeated by parents many times.  I’m not a parent of a teenager, and I recognize that my perspective is limited in that regard. But once I walk in those shoes, I will seek out seasoned, parental “veterans” who have loved and guided their teens toward Christ and the unique dreams he is giving them.

It’s impossible to protect teenagers from pain and struggle, so parents would do well to fight the urge to place such a high value on a pain-free existence.  If instead, they coach them toward life with Christ, they may set them free to establish their own roots and find a deeper life.

*1 Corinthians 8:6

One look at the International Justice Mission (IJM) web site reveals the story of 14 slaves held at a rock quarry in Bangledore, India. IJM helped gather local police and government support to raid the quarry and free those being held.

These kinds of stories are happening every day, though most don’t include a rescue.

Seeing the documentary Call + Response has caused me to think about what my response should be now that I’ve been somewhat educated regarding the problem of slavery.  With an estimated 27 million people held in slavery around the world, what action could I take that could possibly be effective against a problem so large?  What do modern abolitionists do?

First of all, we ask God, “Where would you have me join your work to end the injustice of human slavery in our world?” Then we listen for God’s voice as he leads us in taking steps. Not every person is called to fund, lead or participate in every mission. However, God is certainly calling all of us to unique participation in what he is doing in the world.

Second, we educate ourselves on the issue. We read the news, with a keen eye for stories about oppressed people. We sign up for e-newsletters at sources sensitive to human trafficking.  Sources like International Justice Mission, Free the Slaves, Not For Sale and IRIN Humanitarian News are excellent (Thanks Krista).

Finally, we choose to be aware of the value of every decision. Every huge moral crisis can be thwarted by a million small steps by a million people. In fact, most of the moral dilemmas in our lives only involve small decisions and these small decisions make up the fabric of our existence.

I highly recommend the “33 Responses” list on the Call + Response web site.  Krista and I have strengthened our resolve on some of the things we were already doing, while also commiting to some new steps that we had not considered before now.

Galatians 4:7 says that we are no longer slaves, but sons who have an inheritance.  As former slaves, we have plenty of motivation to continue thinking of ways to participate in God’s freedom mission.

Krista and I just got home from seeing the documentary, Call + Response. It was a powerful 90 minute presentation with a mix of music and exposé regarding the vast crisis of human slavery around the world.  I’m still processing what we saw, but it was Krista’s second time seeing it, so she has already posted her “response” on her site, which I recommend.

http://pendrops.wordpress.com

(One of the guys who was interviewed in the film actually posted a comment on her site yesterday!  See comment from Kevin Bales in the comment section of her post.)

I took two showers yesterday.  That was probably eight or nine gallons of clean, drinkable water.  Just like every other day, it didn’t cross my mind to be thankful for clean, running water.  I’ve had it all of my life and have never had a reason to doubt that it would be there when I turned the knob.  The story is the same with the other 190 gallons I used yesterday.

This is not the situation for almost half of humanity.  Here are some of the startling statistics:

• Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
• There are around 1.8 million child deaths each year as a result of diarrhea.
• 443 million school days are lost each year from water-related illness.
• Close to half of all people in developing countries are suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits. (Source)

The answer is not to sit around feeling guilty about the water we use.  That would not benefit anyone.  Plus, I don’t want you taking fewer showers.  That would be adding one problem to another.

One thing we can do is to support organizations like Blood:Water Mission as part of our regular monthly giving.  B:WM has delivered clean water to over 276,000 people in Africa.  If you are wondering how you could possibly help, their website says that $1 provides one year of clean water for an African.

One dollar.  One year.  One person.

Let us continue to align ourselves with God’s heartbeat for the poor.  Even if we aren’t the ones digging the wells, our support of an organization like Blood:Water Mission can connect us with the ways that God is at work in the pain of poverty throughout the world.

Respects are due to those 3018 who lost their lives that day, along with the families who were impacted.