Perhaps our dreams are smaller in scale, more personal than those dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Perhaps we have filled our lives with other things and crowded out our dreams. Perhaps we think it's futile to dream or have simply forgotten how.
But if we stay still today for a while with his words, if we pause and let them churn, if we reflect on the experience of being, perhaps the business of our lives, the chatter in our minds, the lists of things to do, for a moment, dissipate. And if we stay alert and listening, perhaps we can feel the freedom that Dr. King dreamed of, the freedom that is owned by no one and shared by all.
And what better gift to give ourselves, our heroes, our children, what better gift to give to family and strangers alike, than the freedom to experience all our oneness and all our diversity. Let us not fear how behind our curtains and masks and temperaments and judgements we are all the same. Let us celebrate that we are all woven from the same elements, spun from the same stars, erected with the same energy. Rich and poor, fat and thin, all shades of skin, with no exception, we are each a part of all, who we most revere and who we most revile. Let us teach ourselves to cherish not just our own lives and our friends' lives and our neighbors' lives, but to cherish the lives of those we will never meet, those we can not understand, those we reckon are enemies.
These are not easy dreams, like the dreaming of material things. These are dreams that require vigilance and dedication, dreams that require us to examine what we have long taken for granted, dreams that require us to change. But as we learn to accept without judging, to love without exceptions, we will begin to understand the power we each possess, how our every thought, every action, every choice, effects the freedom of all.
Not just today, but everyday, this is the true work of our lives. Not just today, but everyday, this is the most generous gift we can give. Let us start today. And let us never finish.
But if we stay still today for a while with his words, if we pause and let them churn, if we reflect on the experience of being, perhaps the business of our lives, the chatter in our minds, the lists of things to do, for a moment, dissipate. And if we stay alert and listening, perhaps we can feel the freedom that Dr. King dreamed of, the freedom that is owned by no one and shared by all.
And what better gift to give ourselves, our heroes, our children, what better gift to give to family and strangers alike, than the freedom to experience all our oneness and all our diversity. Let us not fear how behind our curtains and masks and temperaments and judgements we are all the same. Let us celebrate that we are all woven from the same elements, spun from the same stars, erected with the same energy. Rich and poor, fat and thin, all shades of skin, with no exception, we are each a part of all, who we most revere and who we most revile. Let us teach ourselves to cherish not just our own lives and our friends' lives and our neighbors' lives, but to cherish the lives of those we will never meet, those we can not understand, those we reckon are enemies.
These are not easy dreams, like the dreaming of material things. These are dreams that require vigilance and dedication, dreams that require us to examine what we have long taken for granted, dreams that require us to change. But as we learn to accept without judging, to love without exceptions, we will begin to understand the power we each possess, how our every thought, every action, every choice, effects the freedom of all.
Not just today, but everyday, this is the true work of our lives. Not just today, but everyday, this is the most generous gift we can give. Let us start today. And let us never finish.
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