Today is MLK Day 2012, the day we recall the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King was an iconic figure who advanced justice and equality using nonviolent means, always keeping in front of him the vision of a color blind society. In commemoration of his life, I listened to the “I Have A Dream” speech he gave on the Washington Mall in DC, at the base of the Lincoln Memorial, on August 28, 1963. His famous speech is an inspiration to all leaders, especially those with a well articulated call, passion and mission. King’s dream lives on today, marked in great part by his clarion call, “Let freedom ring!”
Your Personal Rule of Life is very simply the articulation of the dream God planted deeply in YOUR heart. The dream you’ve been invited to fulfill for God’s glory. It’s there. You have one. Mining for it is a process of discovery that will lead you to the true you. Once found and embraced, you too can experience unspeakable joy as you live intimately and intentionally with and for the Lord.
A Personal Rule of Life is defined by yours truly as “a holistic description of the Spirit-empowered rhythms and relationships that create, redeem, sustain and transform the life God invites you to humbly fulfill for Christ’s glory.” Over the coming weeks and months I will unpack this definition one topic at a time. My goal is to help you discover your dream and live it with vigor, joy and ever deepening faithfulness.
But for today, may these select words from King’s “I Have A Dream” speech swell within you and bring to life your own dream for a future blessed by Almighty God…”We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice…Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children…I have a dream that one day…Let freedom ring…and when we allow freedom to ring…we will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
