Do We Dare To Dream?
January 21, 2007
Rev. Margaret A. Hart
First Universalist Society of Central Square
a Unitarian Universalist congregation

I stand here with a heavy heart.... heavy with the burden of an escalating war... heavy with the knowledge that many individual lives are being lost.... and thousands more are being injured and maimed... loss of limbs, the psychological loss that comes when one kills or watches comrades and bystanders suffer and perish, loss of innocence.... the awareness that each of these individuals is somebody’s son or daughter, father or mother, brother or sister, uncle or aunt, husband or wife... the awareness that this carnage and loss is being perpetrated in our names... and that we will somehow be held responsible. We may not believe in a hell to which we will be sent after death, but hell is being created here on earth, now. What can we do to turn this around? Do we dare to dream? And will we work to make those dreams a reality?
I had decided to focus today on the life and work of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. After all, we recently celebrated a national holiday dedicated to his life. As my heart is heavy with the awareness of war, it is also heavy with the awareness that great beacons of hope, great prophetic leaders such as the Rev. King, were assassinated in the prime of their lives. What more would they have accomplished had they not been cut down? How do their assassinations affect our willingness to speak out for justice? Do they motivate us? Or do they frighten us? Perhaps they do a bit of each. But may we not let our fear paralyze us, but let us take courage and inspiration as we remember the lives of those great and prophetic ones who have preceded us.
We can reflect on what Dr. King would have been saying and doing today, had he lived to face the current crises. I certainly can’t see him advocating to send more froops into Iraq, or to attack Iran or some other country identified as being in the “Axis of Evil.” Actually, I don’t think he would even use the term “Axis of Evil”, or perceive the world in that way. Dr. King, as a student of Mahatma Gandhi, was a believer in non-violent resistance. He had a vision of a world in which people would respect each other and accept their differences. He worked for a world of justice, in which people would earn a fair wage for labor performed. I think he would support the current attempts to legislate a living wage; he might wonder why it took us so long. He was killed not during the Montgomery bus boycott to ensure racial civil rights, but during the sanitation workers’ strike in Memphis, to ensure a living wage for garbage collectors of all races. He spoke out against U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam. While that made him enemies, he consistently spoke out and worked for peace and justice. May we, inspired by his life, do the same.
In anticipation of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, I read his “I Have a Dream” speech, which was delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. I was so moved by it that I decided to read portions of the speech to you today, and to comment on its meaning and its continuing relevance to our church community. It is amazing that no matter how much some things change, other things seem to stay the same.
First of all, I was struck by the musicality of Dr. King’s speech - the rhythm and the rich imagery, much of which was drawn from the daily life experiences of the people he was addressing. I quote him here:

“Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captiviy.
But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.”

It has been more than forty years since this speech, and although there is now legal equality, there is still much inequality in place. Unemployment rates, life expectancy, health care... all these things and more are weighted in favor of White America. Even voting in the most recent elections raised some concerns, and some calls for election monitors as provided in other countries to ensure fair elections; were inner city polling places ill-equipped in order to make longer lines and thus discouage people there from voting? Was there an attempt to intimidate some poor and minority voters, and to thus discourage them from utilizing their hard-won right to vote? Were some votes which were cast on touch-screen machines, and not backed up with paper ballots, counted properly? And are those of us who voted willing to accept that others may not have had that opportunity, or to accept that some votes may not have been counted?
Rev. King went on to say:
“In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now.”

If things were urgent in 1963, how urgent are they now? How have things changed since Dr. King’s great speech? Have they changed to our satisfaction? Or are there still improvements to be made? I think about hurricane Katrina and our inadequate planning for, and response to, that great tragedy. Poor people and people of minority status were especially hard hit; many were trapped by lack of transportation and help during the onslaught. Many suffered in heat, flooding, and mold, without access to clean drinking water, housing, medicine, and health care. Many others were scattered throughout the country, far from family, friends, and supportive home communities. Many are still rebuilding without adequate supports.
I also think about the recent actions of the Syracuse police to dismantle the tent cities of homeless people living in the Syracuse area. Why are there still homeless people in this country of wealth? Is it true that the poor will always be among us? Are we all right with that? And if so, are we willing to find ways to support those who are poor, and to let them survive in the lifestyles that they choose? Have we really considered what it means to live on the street? or in a shelter? Are we aware of even a fraction of the issues involved in the decision to live on the street? And are we aware that many of the homeless are veterans, mentally ill, or both? Is it all right with us that our veterans are receiving inadequate support for mental illnesses such as post traumatic stress syndrome, which are often the direct result of our sending them off to war? If we aren’t all right with this, what are we doing about it?
Rev. King was a great orator. But more than that, he was a prophet. He was speaking from his own experience, as an African American, about the condition of African Americans. But he was also addressing a wider audience, one which transcends time and space, one which believes in the principles of freedom and justice. His words are as meaningful to us today as they were on the day they were spoken. They are meaningful to people of a variety of races, as well as to African Americans. They hold meaning for people with disabilities, those who live in poverty, the homeless and hungry, and to all people who have been left out of the American dream for a variety of reasons.
They are also meaningful to those of us who have benefited from the American dream. As was pointed out to me in seminary, many of us have benefited from white privilege. Just by being born into white, middle class families in the United States, we have received certain privieges, as contrasted with those who were not so born. It’s hard to even begin talking about white privilege, but it includes such obvious things as education, employment, health care, life expectancy, and housing, and such subtle things as connections which make a lot of other things possible. As Andrew Young, president of the National Council of Churches of Christ, has said, “The continued existence of poverty in the 21st century is the moral equivalent of slavery in the 19th century.” As Unitarian Universalists we understand that as long as any one of us is enslaved, none of us is truly free.
When Dr. King referred to Lincoln, a great American in whose symbolic shadow he stood as he delivered his message, it made me think: In what symbolic shadow do we stand, as Unitarian Universlists? We claim that one of the sources of our living tradition is the words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love. In this sense, although he never joined the Unitarian Universalist church, we claim Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as one of our own. But not in a way that lets us rest on our laurels, but in a way that challenges us to live up to the teachings which he inspired, and which he embodied in his life.
Unitarian Universalist history is filled with other inspiring women and men who stood up for what they believed. Samuel May, for whom May Memoirial Unitarian Universalist Society in Syracuse is named, is a local example of someone who was engaged in the Jerry Rescue, a jail break of a runaway slave, and in other efforts in the struggle for freedom and justice. The memory of Samuel May continues to inspire the members of May Memorial to be socially active in such causes as advocating the closure of the School of the Americas, actively supporting the rights of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered community, and so on.
Who and what provide our inspiration? Who are our heroes? ... something to contemplate this Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
I have mentioned that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great orator and prophet. One of the other things which I noticed in reading his speech, and in knowing what I do about him, is that his words were aligned with his beliefs and his actions. While his words were well chosen and poetic, they were more than that. They came from a deep part of himself, from his heart. I believe that it is for this reason that his words are still so powerful and so relevant today. They contain the power of his conviction, of his principles.
What principles do we live by? What are our convictions?
Martin Luther King dared to dream. And he dared to speak of his dream, that others might help him make it a reality. Again, quoting from his speech:
“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.”

King’s dream was big... it was one of freedom and justice for all people, based on a spirit of transforming love. Like the dream of our Universalist forefathers and foremothers, it was an all-encompassing belief in the goodness of all humanity... it didn’t leave anyone out.
His dream was also specific. It spoke of the particular states in which injustice was most withering, and it spoke of his own children and their future. Perhaps this provides a clue about how we can dream most effectively. We need to create a dream of the big picture- sometimes referred to as a vision. How would we like our society to look in the future, say in ten years? And how would we like this church to look in relationshp to our larger community?
Personally, I envision a society in which we honor our social contract, to take care of each other in community. This includes making sure that no one suffers needlessly, wherever they live in the world, and whatever their ethnicity or other characteristics. Seeing the overwhelming response to the devastation of the tsunami was encouraging; response to hurricane Katrina and our invasion and occupation of Iraq have not been as encouraging. Honoring our social contract means ensuring that everyone has the basic necessities for a happy and fruitful life: safe housing; education; healthy food; economic stability; opportunties for meaningful work and growth; health care in one’s place of choice to ensure safety and comfort; and a voice in determining what is best for oneself, one’s family, one’s community, and one’s world. It also includes religious freedom, and the right to be free of religious practices altogether.
This church has developed a clear and compelling vision of what it wants to be:
The mission of the First Universalist Church of Central Square is to be a welcoming, diverse congregation, which values spiritual growth and service to the local and world communities.

We must also think about more specific conderns- what outcomes or goals are important mileposts for us? How will we know that we are moving toward our dreams? How will we evaluate our progress and make course-corrections along the way? Even more specifically, what action steps do we need to take, who is responsible for making sure they get done, and when? All these things will be important as we dream, and as we work to make our dreams into realities.
Again, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
“This is our hope... 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 symphoy 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.
This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, ‘My country, ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.’
And if America is to be a great nation this must come true... When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last,! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’”

And I would add, that we will be able to speed up that day when all people - those who are fully ambulatory and those who need a more accessible site; those who know what they believe and those who are still searching; those who are heterosexual and those who enjoy different sexual orientations; those who have plenty and those who are struggling to get by; those who have a Christian background, those who have other religious backgrounds, and those who have no religious background at all - all people will feel welcome here in this house of compassion, justice, and love. May we build a beloved community here, in this church, and may it extend out into the world in ever widening ripples. Let us keep the dream alive. May it be so. Amen.