Many people
can quote the start of his most famous speech “I have a dream…” but few people
can tell you what his dream was.
Last month
on MLK day I flew with one of my good friends to Carthage, NC
where we ate at the Pic N’ Pig. He read
one of the plaques which told of the story of
James McConnel who died in battle during World War one. JP read it in French since that is where he
was born.
The second
plaque is written in Chinese and tells of Robert Upchurch who served and died
as one of the Flying Tigers. My second
student of the day is from China. I look forward to the day when I can call him
my friend.
The ideas
expressed in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence ring as true
today as the day they were written. The
blood of people paying for the fruition of those dreams has been spilled in
many battles. French blood supporting
the rebellious colonies, Chinese blood against an invading force and American
blood mixed in with both. Our civil war
was the bloodiest. I long for peace and
weep for my fallen comrades and thank God that I live in a country that states
upfront “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The color of your skin does not matter; blood
is red, what matters is how you live.
Live the
dream. Dream big.
