This month’s Synchroblog is centered on Race, Violence, and Why We Need to Talk About It. There’s a link list at the bottom of this post of some other bloggers also writing today. If I were going to recommend one post to read on this subject, read I Need to Say Something Entirely Different to White People on a Deeper Story. When I was thinking of what to write, this is what came to mind. I know the road ahead is long and hard and painful, but I hope we can be part of making some of these dreams come true.
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“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow…” (MLK) we still have a dream.
It is a dream deeply rooted in the dream of God for all his creation.
We have a dream that one day the children of God will rise up and live out the true meaning of our creed: “Love our neighbor as ourselves” and that there would be no us and them, but only us.
We have a dream that we’d trade our guns and knives and swords and stones and words-as-weapons for tools of peace and listening and presence and humility.
We have a dream that one day on the streets of every Midwestern town, we will not see a sea of white or a sea of black, but a rising powerful wave of every color mixed and weaved together, moving on behalf of hope.
We have a dream that tables in every cafe and restaurant and pub and university and library and church and school cafeteria would be filled with people of all colors side by side, eye to eye, face to face, eating together, laughing together, listening together, living together.
We have a dream that even on Sunday mornings, still one of the most segregated day of the week, that we’d bravely and intentionally leave the church of our comfort and walk through the doors of our brothers’ and sisters’ communities and join in learning and listening instead of teaching and talking.
We have a dream that hardened hearts would be softened and stiff necks would be loosened, and knees everywhere would be bowed in humility toward God, confessing the ways we have participated in injustice and oppression and in hate and division and racism.
We have a dream that voices that have been silenced for generations begin to rise up in a strong chorus that stirs our souls and moves our feet.
We have a dream that the false power of this world would be replaced with the true power of the Kingdom, where the last will be first and the first will be last, where the low will be lifted up and the high will be humbled, where there is no over or under but only alongside.
We have a dream that we would raise up an army of peacemakers across all generations and shapes and sizes and theologies and politics who are dedicated to creating spaces and places of healing and reconciliation and hope and collective action.
We have a dream that God would wake those who are sleeping, rousing us from their ignorance and indifference, and move our hearts to action.
We have a dream that what was meant for evil could be redeemed and that even the darkest ugliest pockets of injustice could be transformed into an “oasis of freedom” and hope.
We have a dream today, not for tomorrow or “once we’re more ready” or “once the time is right” or “once things aren’t so tense.”
We have a dream that we won’t keep waiting for our dreams to drop out of the sky but that the wild and beautiful and creative spirit of God would move through us here, now, to bring heaven to earth.
A dream that we could live in a land where full equality wasn’t a dream but a reality, a practice, a way of life, evidence of Jesus-at-work-here-and-now.
Yes, we “have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; ‘and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together'” (MLK).
God, give us courage and wisdom and endurance and hope to participate in making this dream come true.
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Check out these other bloggers writing about this, too:
- Jeremy Myers – It’s the White Man’s Fault! It’s the Black Man’s Fault!
- Wendy McCaig – Race, Violence, and a Silent White America
- Glenn Hager – Can We Even Talk About Racial Issues?
- Carol Kuniholm – Who is Allowed to Vote?
- Sarah Quezada – Race, Violence, and the Airport Immigration Agent
- Wesley Rotoll – Race, Violence, and Why We Need to Talk About It
- Liz Dyer – Why are American Churches Still So Racially Segregated?
- Loveday Anyim Snr – The Dangers of Racism and Violence on the Society
- Juliet Birkbeck – Remembering Voices of Hatred