It was 1992 when I read James Cones’s masterful book, “Martin and Malcolm and America: A Dream or a Nightmare?” I was in the middle of my Doctor of Ministry work at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, and Cone was one of the many gifted speakers I got to experience. Cone asked this provocative question at a time when we as a nation believed we were making great strides to cure our original sin of racism. And while Malcolm and Martin came to prominence with very different views about how far we had come, by the end of their lives – Malcolm being murdered in 1965 and Martin in 1968 – they had moved closer together. King saw how too many white Americans acted towards the struggle for equality and it made him despair. Especially when he spoke against the Vietnam War and poverty. X was beginning to see hope.
A couple of years later I was serving as the chaplain at Albright College, and we had a panel about the Civil Rights Movement during the week of Martin L. King Day. I asked the panelists which they think had won – the dream or the nightmare. They all spoke hopefully about the dream but agreed that the nightmare seemed, in many places, to be winning. Thirty years later we are still dealing with the question: is the American dream still alive, or is the Empire in the midst of a nightmare? Our view depends largely on how well or badly we and the people we know have done. Asked in different ways: are you hopeful or desperate? Are things getting better or worse? Do you think we will be around for a while or are you waiting for Armageddon?
How we approach the future often depends on how we have reconciled our past. I don’t know a single person who hasn’t had some kind of struggle, but I know a lot of people who have been through hell and lived to tell the tale. God is not controlling us, nor do we have total control over what happens to us. We do, however, have a good amount of say about our lives in the way we live and the decisions we make. We can choose to allow the past to dictate today, or we can strive for something more. If I had listened to all the people who told me I wasn’t smart enough for college, I would never have made my life into what it has become. It isn’t just that we have imposter syndrome – too many of us hear the voices of doom and negativity and doubt and believe they are telling us the truth.
If we expect life to be without struggle, we are fooling ourselves. If we expect everything to be handed to us, we are delusional. This is a roller coaster ride, and we have to learn to push through the struggles and savor the joy. Jesus understood this complete; this is why, at the end of the Beatitudes in Matthew 6, He told the gathered people, “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Smart man, that Jesus guy. Buckle up, buttercup – it might get bumpy. But we’ve got this.
Prayer – Holy God, as we begin this day, we seek strength and courage to take each step and walk justly with You. Thank You for another day to do the right thing. Amen.
Today’s art is “The Struggle in Life” by T. Searles.