Skip to main content

A Dream and a Fire...Burn Baby, Burn


Martin Luther King Jr. was respected each year in my growing up.  My Mom had great respect for him.  What he stood for, how he accomplished it and the generation he inspired. 

I thought of him yesterday.  Along with his family.  For me he isn't just an idea, but rather a man.  

   A man who believed something deep within his heart and never stopped the fire within him.  

  Misquoted and used out of perspective and context.  He listened and he respected and he loved equally.  Both Martin Luther King Sr. and Jr.'s names were changed in honor of the reformer Martin Luther.  Martin Luther Kind Jr.'s main influence was Jesus of the Bible.  The Bible contains, "many profound truths which one cannot escape," he says.  He focused on loving one's neighbor, loving God, praying, loving enemies and turning the other cheek.

I wonder if he doubted?  Dismayed?  Discouraged?  Exhausted or wanted to give up?  Martin Luther King Jr.'s never abandoned his dream or the work he believed he was called to do.

I remember the worksheet well.  "I have a dream..."  Every Martin Luther King Jr. day in my one room K-8 school,  we spent writing our dreams.  

And I did.  I drew the barns, the houses, meadows, pastures and gardens to be the place my dream would grow.  A place for lost and hurting children.  A place for kids who needed a place to heal, grow, to be educated, to meet God and to learn about themselves.

Thirty years ago.  Is my dream still alive?  Has the doubt and fear of adulthood buried it?  Has self-sabotage killed the flame?

When I'm still...I feel the warmth of my dream's embers.  The coals of hope still alive within my soul.  Tucking it back under is my usual operating procedure.

Today, I'm brushing away the debris from this burning dream.  Giving it some space to grow.   Brushing away the fragments of doubt.

What we experience happens before we put it into language.  This fire in my soul?  This was experienced and birthed before education.  Before professional development.  Before personality test or IQ test or evidenced based practices entered my mind.

Burn little dream.  Burn dream burn.  Burn Baby, Burn!

Set fire to my soul.  Ignite my passion and burn away mediocrity, fear, doubt and lack of faith.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Starting a Journey

September 3, 2010 Originally posted How to Begin a Journey 1. Pick a destination or simply start. 2. Plan a detailed itinerary or just take the first step. 3. Pack everything or travel lightly. I am choosing to just begin. To leave behind the baggage, pick up a day pack, and go. Several nights before we moved to Ogallala, I was praying about the transition when I heard that still, small voice of God. In that moment, I knew He heard my Heart's Cry. He hears every whispered plea, every unspoken longing. If I truly sit with that truth, it humbles me. What courage, boldness, passion, and decisiveness I have when I remember: He never leaves or forsakes me. He provides for my every need according to His riches in glory. My hope is to encourage you He hears your Heart's Cry too.
2 comments
Read more

1940 Canned Apple Butter: Family Root Cellar

I loved exploration as a child.  From opening the door and going down the stairs to get something from my Grandma's root cellar or exploring old homesteads while checking cows.  I credit my Mom with teaching us to appreciate those things that represented the people who had gone before us. When I moved with my husband and boys to a house on the family ranch-I began exploring immediately.  This was the house my Aunt and Uncle lived in during my childhood.  My Grandparents had lived there and many other families dating back to 1900 when it was built.   With two little boys in tow, I made my way to the root cellar and found a treasure cove.  Old text books belonging to the original family who had been a teacher, the original medicine cupboard, tools, trash and memorabilia.   I felt like an archeologist sifting through layers of debris representing generations and culture.  And I was.  I hauled truckloads of trash to the dump (some...
4 comments
Read more

Diabetes-Opened to Disease OR Open to Connecting to my Strengths

I've tried living in denial for two years after the big D diagnoses was handed over.  Honestly, I just don't want to talk about it.  Outwardly seemly calm and disconnected from it.  Inwardly terrified. As a plant that is stressed is open to disease, injury and death so to our bodies are.  I opened myself up to this.  Stress, lack of sleep, bad nutrition, overweight and lack of exercise.  For some reason I believed that if I ran fast enough and worked hard enough, I would outrun my family genes.  The tiny room in the back of my brain locked with a key has kept the fear of this disease at bay even though I could hear its screaming when life quieted down. My Aunt died piece by piece to this disease.  First a heart attack and quadruple by-pass.  Then a toe.  Next a foot.  Legs came next along with more heart attacks.  Kidneys shutting down.  She died very young. When I was little, my Aunt Ally gave herself s...
4 comments
Read more