Martin Luther King Jr and a dream

When I was in junior high school we were asked to name someone we would like to be like. I didn’t know a lot about him but I said, “Martin Luther King, Jr.” My teacher asked me if I knew he was black. My response was, “yes, can't I pick him?” I am not sure what was meant by the question. I don't want to read more into it than was meant. But I wonder if she thought I should have picked someone “more like me?” I chose him at that moment of my life because he was a man that struck me as passionate, committed, and willing to live out what he believed. And ultimately, to give it all for what he believed. He was a man who was striving for a dream. I like that.

I can’t say that I understand all the facets of the dream that he had. I don’t fully understand the racial struggle that we have in our country, but I do believe that it is worth striving to be a people who judge not by the "color of the skin but by the content of character."That is what attracted me to Martin Luther King, Jr. It was what I knew of his character. I believe that if we want to be a people, a nation, that does not judge by skin color we will have to be a people who strive to be men and woman of character. And to be a people where character does matter.

As we strive to be men and woman of character, the young people who come behind us will have more role models. They will have role models of character rather than merely skin color.

Your partner in the gospel,
Pastor Paul

One more additional comment:
In the next few hours we will have a new President of the United States of America. He is black. Regardless of my political position, I am proud that skin color did not keep him from being our President. And I pray that he and his family would be blessed by our Lord!