By Sr. Doreen, SSJD.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and Martin Luther King Day overlap and provide rich musings for us. In the Bible, Daniel (2:3) says, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand it”.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech also included references to the Bible, including:
- Amos 5:24
“No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream”
- Isaiah 40
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight”
When I began to ponder the week of prayer for unity and also Martin Luther Kings Day for ‘justice and righteousness’ together, I found myself being pulled into that verse in psalm 85:10 “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other”. It seems to me that God’s own dream for this world is one where all people can live together in love and mercy, in truth, in righteousness and in peace: a dream of justice and unity for a better world. The main theme for the week of prayer for Unity is a scripture reference from John 11:26 “Do You Believe This”.
It made me ponder and ask the question “And if we do, or if we really want to do this, God’s own dream for this world, a dream of justice and unity for a better world”, then I found myself asking a next question “How?”
God invites us, over and over again, ‘come to me’, ‘listen’, I have plans for you’, to reflect on His vision for the world, a vision rooted on justice, righteousness, and peace. We are so aware of our human failures as we look around at our world today, and as we take a look at our own personal life – the reality that we have not lived up to God’s vision, falling lamentably short. We live in what feels like a knife edge with the war between Ukraine and Russia and the real risk of escalation. We’ve witnessed the terrible destruction of Gaza, the West Bank, and Beirut, the tragedy in the Sudan and uncertainty in so many parts of the world. Environmentally, we are all aware of the environmental disasters we face. It seems that worldwide we are becoming a more fearful and less open as a people and as a world, increasingly keen to draw up the barriers against the outsider and the refugee. We see homelessness, food insecurity, and our own inability to live together with differences. In the midst of this I believe that God’s call to us now is loud, clear, and needed: to help bring in his kingdom of justice, righteousness, and peace. God calls us, in love to respond and join in with God’s vision, God’s dream – in love not in fear.
Living in the midst of so many difficulties and misfortunes, anger and hate – there is the possibility of becoming bitter, hostile, and fearful. However, in all of this, I also believe in the power of hope, the necessity of having hope – because I can look back on my own experiences of darkness and have come through with growth and healing. I have seen the earth recover from terrible disasters. I have seen numerous reasons to continue to have hope in the future when I look at the huge amount of goodness that rests in the hearts of humankind – the acts of kindness and courtesy and compassion, and the resilience that seems to shine through communities and parts of creation.
Teilhard de Chardin wrote in his book “Building the Earth”: “Faith in the future is not dead in our hearts. Better still, it is this hope, deepened and purified, which seems bound to save us.” Joyce Rupp carries on this thought by saying “There are many who work for the good of our world. This solidarity is an important part of hope, reminding us of our shared values and dreams”. In her book “The Cosmic Dance” she quotes de Chardin “We are all of us together carried in the one world-womb.” I believe it is this solidarity that is a great source of hope. With Joyce Rupp, I believe that our oneness in the great dance of life is a tremendous strength.
John 11:26 “Do You Believe This”. And if we do, or if we really want to do this, then the next question for us as I have already indicated becomes “How?” It seems to me that our how might just find its clue in this oneness, our belief in this oneness that urges us to live and to act in ways that are beneficial for everyone. Hope – it tells us that there is a sustainable future, God’s dream, and this is spurred on by God’s belief in our possibilities, that we can create a world where everything and everyone can live in harmony, with an assured safe environment.
It is together that we are strong. This is the message of the week of prayer for unity and this is the message of Martin Luther King Jr. It is together that we have hope. It is together that we will grow. It is together that we will co-create with God a world that dances in harmony, justice, love and peace. Martin Luther King said again and again in his speech in 1963 “we cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”
I have a dream today. “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight” (Isaiah 40)
I have a dream today. “No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24)
Part of a poem by Joyce Rupp called How Did They Know (The Cosmic Dance) really sums it all up for me. Dancing together, nudged on by the God who calls “Arise, my love, and come” we can do more than we could ever ask for or imagine.
How did they know it was time to push up through the long-wintered soil?
How did they know it was the moment to resurrect while thick layers of stubborn ice still pressed the black ground flat? But the tulips knew. They came, rising strongly, a day after the ice dried.
There’s a hope-filled place in me that also knows when to rise. It is urged by the strong sun warming my winter heart. It is nudged by the Secret One, calling, calling, calling, “Arise, my love, and come.”
Like the dormant tulips my heart stirs, and hope comes dancing forth.
