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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.



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