Hope For and Dream For

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama’s platform for change is premised upon the idea of hope. What is hope?

Hope is wishing for something with expectation of its fulfillment. Rev. Jesse Jackson, former presidential candidate continues to preach, “Keep Hope Alive!”

I believe I saw hope alive yesterday while in Tuscon, Arizona. My wife and I attended worship with friends at the Midvale Park Seventh – Day Adventist Church.

Pastor Ronald Yabut, a Filipino American preached from biblical texts and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech, I Have a Dream. His presentation was passionate. He appealed to people to embody the attributes of love, good character, and service. He echoed the words of Dr. King, “I Have a Dream”.

As I looked around the congregation, it was 21st Century America, a microcosm of Earth’s global community. Whites were present in an apparently shrinking majority partnered with men and women from other cultural groups in marriage and congregational life.

Cross cultural marriages in many contexts were present. A meal was shared at the conclusion of worship the minister and his family were present for.

A primary initiative of Crawford and Dienst is to bring people together who might never otherwise have opportunity to meet. We assert ourselves as the prompt. For years, we have celebrated birthdays inviting people who are different by color, culture, class, or condition. On this Sabbath, there was not work for us. We were the invited ones.

Hope is alive at Midvale Park without the prompts of political movements and so is the dream of MLK. Remember to Keep Hope Alive and the Dream.

Hope for and dream for the time when people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Hope for and dream for the time when America will be an oasis for freedom and for justice. Hope for and dream for the time when we will live out the American idea that all are created equal and endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights and among these; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Each of us and all of us can make a difference. We can help make this dream a reality everyday, one day at a time.

Keep up The Love Everybody. When you’re in Tuscon on Saturday, bless yourself and visit with the great people at the Midvale Park Seventh – Day Adventist Church.

“O”