A Challenge…

About a week ago my boss proposed a challenge for me and my fellow co-workers. As I am sure all of you know, today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The challenge was to read and watch Dr. King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech and reflect upon it. 

I would challenge all of you to do the same before you continue reading. It might take awhile, but it is definitely worth it. You can read the full speech here. After reading it, watch the whole speech:

Want to know what makes this speech even better? Dr. King did the whole ending (ya know, the famous “I Have A Dream” part) off the cuff; he completely free-styled that. Isn’t that amazing? The part we remember most is the part he made up on the fly. (Thanks for the fun fact, Nicole.)

Pretty sure that after listening to Dr. King, nothing I have to say will be of any importance. It is pretty moving; it should be considering it is one of the best modern speeches to date (if not the best). His words are inspiring and thought provoking.

Several parts of this speech stick out to me. At one point, Dr. King says, “Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” How awesome is it that he is calling people who have been wronged so many times to react nonviolently? How often does that happen today? Right after that, Dr. King says: “We cannot walk alone….We cannot turn back.” This is applicable in so many areas of our lives today. We cannot journey through life alone; friends and family and others are put into our lives for a reason. They are their to help us through life, to live life with us. And, if we fall back into the ways of the past, our world cannot continue to progress to its full potential. Not to mention the rhetoric that Dr. King uses throughout the whole speech is amazing. Writing like that doesn’t happen very often. 

The singular challenge of watching and reflecting has now developed into another challenge (at least for me). I don’t know about you, but something about this speech makes me want to better, to live life with a little more passion. Dr. King has proposed a challenge. Even though this speech was first spoken in 1963, it still has relevance today. He not only challenges everyone to treat others as equals, he challenges us to live life passionately and to stand up for what we believe in. 

It makes me wonder, if we had as much passion and drive as he does in those 20 minutes, what would our world look like?

Peace and Blessings