Action REQUIRED

I have a dream today… I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, 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. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with.  With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.  With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.   ©1963 Martin Luther King, Jr.

I fear we have forgotten these powerful words.  And what’s worse – did we ever truly take them as a serious charge to our nation?  I have taken my children to the Martin Luther King, Jr. museum in Atlanta, GA twice because of the inspiration gained through the exhibits.  Dr. King received a Word from the Lord.  Why else would he take on such a huge responsibility of convincing our nation to come together?  Why else would he put his entire family in danger for this message?  It only makes sense to conclude the Lord anointed him for a purpose, and despite the dangers, Dr. King proceeded.

I have to confess, I always thought of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech as a concept until I visited the museum.  I had yet to take the contents of the speech and process them as a charge from the Lord.  I’m guessing, most people in our nation made the same mistake I made.  It is the will of the Lord for His children to consider their neighbor, regardless of their neighbor’s exterior, their brother or sister in Christ. 

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  We love because he first loved us.  Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.   I John 4: 7-8 & 19-21

The MLK museum in Atlanta makes it resoundingly clear – we share the responsibility of making our nation better.  It is not enough to scroll through the news on our phones daily – action is required for change!  Our nation is currently hurting.  We have forgotten our Christian values and have replaced those values with the attitude of “do whatever pleases me”.  We are in trouble and in need of the Lord to intervene. But we need to earnestly ask Him to intervene.  We also need to reach across to understand those who have a different background from us.  We need to love people.  We are all children of God.  We need to pray for each other, pray with each other, worship alongside each other, and deeply care about the concerns of our brothers and sisters. 

This is my response to our current state of our country:  Every day, I commit to praying for our nation.  Every week, I commit to volunteering in order to make someone else’s life better.  Every month, I commit to having a forum to discuss current issues with teenage young women.  I also commit to gathering people from various backgrounds to Unify in worship.  May the glory of the Lord be revealed and our nation know Jesus Christ is Lord!

This is my Father’s world.  O let me ne’er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong,  God is the ruler yet.  This is my Father’s world: why should my heart be sad?  The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!  God reigns; let the earth be glad!      From “This is My Father’s World” Hymn by Maltbie D. Babcock 1901