Revisiting the Dream

As I sit here today and contemplate the big debate that will be going on in Congress over our nation’s response to the developments in Syria, I am reminded again that the world is not a safe place. For me it is twice as bad because I have a daughter in Afghanistan. Last week she sent us an email that five of her colleagues were murdered by the Taliban. There was no negotiation, and the car they were in was simply hijacked and they were executed. Erin was crying as she spoke to us and wrote to us about this awful incident. All of them were young Afghani engineers working on a project that would benefit their nation. One even had a pregnant wife. Syria is another place where it appears without a doubt that Assad has used weapons of mass destruction against his own people. Might seems to make right. It will be interesting to listen to this debate. One thing that is really not debatable is that there is an enormous amount of hatred and violence in this world.It is horrifying when innocent people die just because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whether it is a child in a baby carriage shot to death this morning in the Bronx, or a young girl brutally murdered in Egypt, or a suicide bomber who blows himself up in order to kill everyone around him, we are living in a dangerous and brutal world. It is not a Disney movie but rather a descent into darkness.So, as I contemplate all of this, I am reminded that we just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Martin Luther King, Jr. “I have a dream” speech and the 1963 civil rights march on Washington, D.C. There are those who decided to stand up against the evil of racism and the chains that held persons of color back from pursuing the fullest life that America could offer. They fought back, using tactics that were deeply rooted in the biblical tradition. The New York Times Op-Ed columnist David Brooks writes: “That meant the tactics had to start with love, not hate; nonviolence, not violence; renunciation, not self-indulgence.”At the same time, Brooks writes, this was not passive. “It was not just turning the other cheek, loving your enemies (...). It allowed leaders to stage relentless protests, sit-ins, and marches that would force opponents to expose themselves in their most vicious forms.” This tactic changed the world. The ethic of nonviolent resistance became transforming - it is true whether we are talking about Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Ghandi, or Jesus.However, being a follower of Jesus, I like the idea of reducing the ugliness in the world by reducing the ugliness in yourself. This does not mean that I am unconcerned by Syrians being gassed by their own government, or Christian churches being burnt in Egypt and elsewhere by the Muslim Brotherhood and others. It simply means that the first step towards peace begins with “me”.In the end, the dream of a black pastor 50 years ago continues to be our dream for this nation and for the world. “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me”.