It's very hard for me to accept the fact that I am almost 61 years old. I remember thinking as a ten year old child that when the new century rolled around I'd be 50 years old which to me at the time seemed like a very ancient age. Now 50 seems so young, and 60 isn't ancient at all. During the last six decades I have seen our nation come through many challenges that have literally changed the face of our society.
I remember the excitement at the election of John F. Kennedy as our president when I was in sixth grade. Our teacher brought a TV set into the classroom so we could watch the inauguration during class. That was quite an unheard of thing back then. I remember the fear that overcame us during the Cuban Missile Crisis and how groceries disappeared off the store shelves as people stocked up hoping to live through the nuclear nightmare that was expected to descend upon us. But mostly I remember the hope that Kennedy's presidency put in the hearts of so many that lived on the edges of society, hope for equality, hope for economic and social justice for all. Then as I sat in my high school language class the loud speaker suddenly blared with the radio news announcing that the President had been assassinated. All the dreams of a better life for the nation were shattered...or so we thought. But his death led to an enormous amount of legislation being passed that caused fundamental changes in how our nation took care of the elderly and the poor. His dream lived on.
When I entered college, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was constantly in the news bringing his non-violence campaign to cities and states across our nation to realize equal rights and justice for all people. His prophetic style of preaching and his eloquent manner of casting a dream of a possible future of justice, peace, and harmony for all peoples filled us with visions of the dawning of a new age of hope. But as I sat watching TV in the living room of a student religious organization we learned that Dr. King had just been gunned down. All the dreams of a better life for the nation were shattered...or so we thought. But his martyrdom led to the passage of many laws enhancing the civil rights and liberties of all peoples. His dream lived on.
A few months later I worked as a volunteer on the campaign of Senator Robert Kennedy who was running for the presidency. It was an exciting time as we chalked up on our homemade charts the progress he was making in winning the democratic nomination. Then as we watched the events unfolding after the California primary election we were grieved to discover that Robert Kennedy had been gunned down. Again our dreams of a better life for the nation were shattered...or so we thought. Again his death caused actions and reactions that led to better laws and better life for many. His dream lived on.
Sure the years following their deaths were filled with strife as a nation argued over what was the best course of action to take to achieve the dreams of those three men and others like them. But we saw a great change in our society, a change that wouldn't have happened if they hadn't shared their individual dreams with all of us. We caught those dreams and they became our own dreams and we put those dreams into action and brought them to reality.
American society is so very different now, changed for the better in so many ways. I can see it, for I have lived through it. I remember drinking fountains and bathrooms with signs over them saying, "Whites only." I remember restaurants with signs on the doors that said, "No blacks allowed." It was a very different country then. I'm glad it has changed for I didn't much like seeing friends scorned and rejected simply because of the color of their skin.
Sure we have great problems still. Many old prejudices still exist. I hear it when I'm at work and someone says, "What do you expect from them? They're foreigners." "No," I correct them, "they're Americans. Just like you."
We elected a President last year whose skin color would have prevented him from being nominated much less elected 40 years ago when Martin Luther King first gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. But his words have echoed down the years and filled the hearts and minds of so many that we can now claim to have heard the dream and acted on the dream in so many different ways that we can celebrate the hope-filled presidency of President Barack Obama. Sure there are those who will not accept his leadership and will fight against any kind of progress he hopes to legislate. There will always be dream killers amongst us.
But as long as you and I continue to dream the dreams of John and Martin and Robert and work to bring those dreams into reality, then hope remains for a better world to be born. One in which the hoped for jubilee of God's new community where all are welcomed, all are accepted, all are included lives on...eternally.
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