I took the occasion of the day to listen to Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech. I don’t think I’d ever actually listened to the whole speech. Most of us are probably only familiar with the few famous phrases spoken on that day in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.
But buried in the middle of the speech there is a section I’ve never heard before. Dr. King talks about the urgency of NOW. He said, We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. 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 quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
What was true in August of 1963 is certainly true today. This is no time to sit back and wait for things to happen. It’s no time to play defense…only responding to what life throws our way. It’s no time to sit back and allow ourselves to be lulled to sleep by the apathy of our times.
Today is the day…now is the time to make good on our promises. Now is the time to rise to the level we once dreamed was possible. Now is the time to pull together and become excellent in a way we could never achieve on our own. Now is the time stop our pettiness and strive for the greatness within. Now is the time to step out in our divine design and be the person we were born to be. The time is now.
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