The Dream

Is The Dream alive?

My children ask.

My own heart wonders.

When Dr. King rose to the podium in August of 1963, 250,000 people in front of him and the nation and world tuned in, he hadn’t planned to speak of the dream. The magnificent gospel singer Mahalia Jackson who sat behind him, shouted out “Martin, tell them about the dream.”

There are two themes in Dr. King’s speech in the moments before he decides to share about The Dream that I think are worth visiting.

First, a litany of lines that begin with “We cannot be satisfied until…”

He points out the many ways that racism continues to limit those of color, despite advances that the Civil Rights Movement had made.

Dr. King’s words:

We cannot be satisfied as long as the colored person’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “for white only.”

We cannot be satisfied as long as a colored person in Mississippi cannot vote and a colored person in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

Today, we might update the list. Our country and world still leaves behind too many, with greed and power threatening love and justice. I encourage you to make your individual list, “I will not be satisfied until ____”. Fill it in as many ways as you can. It might point you into directions of service and leadership for 2026, places where you can work on The Dream.

Dr. King ends that section with a powerful line that still rings true as a guide for 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.

The second theme comes in the line before he begins to share about The Dream. Can you remember this line? It is an admittance that there is good reason to want to give up. I sense that amongst my friends and neighbors at the moment. Too much heaviness. Too much violence. Not enough humanity and compassion. Not enough care for our ailing planet.

Here is the line:

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you, today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment,

I still have a dream.

It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

 

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My brothers and sisters, we let the “I am not satisfied until…” to re-commit ourselves to our neighbors and communities, to the pursuit of a more just society, and to the work of The Beloved Community. 

And we also acknowledge the despair as something to be overcome together, in community.

And then, we say in unison with Dr. King that despite the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, we are here to continue the work of The Dream.

 

Drawing from my daughter Shandiin

Meeting the excitement and pressure of the new year

8^th day of the new year.

A great moment to check in. How are you doing? How are you feeling? Energy level?

The first days of the new year come with a lot of excitement and a lot of pressure.

Excitement for the sense of renewal, and becoming better versions of ourselves. Excitement in putting the last year to rest and starting with a clean slate. Excitement at putting down some old habits and picking up some new habits.

Pressure to become better, to change, to have ambitious goals. We feel that pressure each time someone innocently asks us about our new year’s resolutions. However, a lot of the pressure in January is self-inflicted. It comes from a very good place – our desire to improve and enhance our lives and our living. And pressure, whether external or internal, can be a very good motivator for us to do things we would not otherwise do. Think back to coaches, teachers, and bosses you have had. The ones that got the most out of you probably did so through a healthy amount of pressure to succeed.

A few thoughts as we link arms to accept the challenge and opportunity that 2026 provides us, motivated by both the excitement and pressure to make some good changes.

First, the need to be flexible. I had a patient this week who proudly told me they want to exercise every day this year. It was the 5^th day of the year when they told me, and they had not yet started. So, their ability to move the start date back a few days is going to be a key to their success. Many folks who set the same goal would have already given up if they hadn’t started on January 1^st.

Second, if you don’t feel like you have had a chance to set meaningful goals for 2026, make space to do just that. The holidays can get busy and lots of us emerge from them without having had the time to reflect on what we want to work on. Take part or even the entire month of January to come up with goals for yourself. This isn’t a timed test. Take as much time as you need.

Third, find and build your community that will support you in these goals. Life is a much easier game when we are surrounded by family and friends, neighbors and classmates, co-workers and supporters. Strengthening your community may even become a goal in itself for the new year.

Last, once you have goals in hand, I like the 3-2-1 method for getting started. Think about the 3-day, 2-week and 1-month perspective on the goal. This is the art of making bite sized morsels out of an overwhelmingly-sized cake. Take, for example, a goal of trying to learn to swim. The 3-day goal might be to sign-up for swim lessons. The two-week goal might be to find a bathing suit. And the 1-month goal might be to have had a few lessons, to feel slightly more comfortable in the water. The bigger goal has been broken into immediate, achievable steps.

Have fun as we kick off the 2026 journey together.