"I Have A Dream..."

I don't think there is any tribute that could match the courage of Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, his family or followers. As Coretta Scott King is honored during her funeral today, it is a time to look back, and look forward.

Martin Luther King Jr. had a great dream. A dream that freedom rings across the United States to all its citizens. MLK was a great advocate of peaceful protest. We all have much to learn and much to gain from his stance.

When I grew up in a very colorless part of the country, I still felt that people of color were still God's children, even if I seldom encountered one. They still have feelings. They still have been given gifts and talents by their Creator. And they are still precious in God's eyes. They are like me. They should be free, indeed.

Violence and unrest continue to destroy that preciousness that lies in each of God's creations on this earth. Materialism and ideologies have seemingly conquered over the preciousness of life and the sacredness of freedom.

Even in our daily lives, we allow other things to strip us of our freedoms. We quietly follow someone, even if we don't agree, just to be in the "in" crowd. We do things that go against our inner sense of reason. We don't do things we ought or long to do, because either a mental, cultural, societal or physical roadblock has been placed in our way. We can break the roadblocks. We can challenge the challenges that lie before us.

Freedom is sacred. Freedom is full of responsibility and obligation and reverence. Freedom is accessible and a challenge. It is work. It is conditioning the heart, mind and soul to peacefully seek freedom. It is to define a peaceful freedom for all, and to honor others' freedom so that your freedom does not hinder anothers' freedom. It is to work, play and rest peacefully with our brothers and sisters on this earth. It is peace and freedom walking hand in hand.

And someday, we will all sing together, "free at last."