I keep dreaming the same dream, that I am back working in the medical office.  As Dickens would say, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”  I can certainly say that I have no desire to go back to work.  I love retirement.  I fill my days with doing volunteer work, walking the dogs, tutoring my grandson, tackling small chores and enjoying being with my wife.  So, why do I keep dreaming about work?

My dreams are not as grandiose as those of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  His dreams were filled with the hope of racial equality.  While I’m sure that his dream was for freedom for all races, he most certainly had black people in mind. He grew up in a country where race discrimination was played out every day.

But discrimination wasn’t something new.  In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was not unusual to witness hatred or prejudice against Italians, Jews, Chinese, Irish and others, scrambling to climb into the giant melting pot called America.

I have vivid memories from my childhood of people (including my own family) looking down on the blacks who worked for us or sat in the back of our buses.  I remember feeling, not hatred toward, but fear of the Negros that I encountered because it was drilled into me that they were “not like us” and couldn’t be trusted.

Living in the South, I had no firsthand experience of spending time with a black person.  It has taken many years for me to understand their plight and to admire their strong faith and determination.  I also have observed that, just like whites, all races have their undesirables, those who remain or become angry, obnoxious or rude in their behavior to their brothers and sisters of a different color.

As much as I would like to say that racial issues are behind us, I am inclined to think that they will never be completely behind us, based on what I still encounter even here in the Bible Belt (go figure).  While I don’t agree with all of Dr. King’s views, and I don’t know the real truth about rumors of his lifestyle, I wholeheartedly agree with his message of God’s love and our reconciliation.

The love of God can only be real in our lives if others can see his love in us.  That means that we are to look upon others as our equals.  The Apostle Paul said that we should consider others above ourselves (Philippians 2:3).  Having come from a religious group, the Pharisees, he knew all too well what it was like to look down on others.

Paul followed the one who gave him a new heart, a heart of flesh, not of stone.  He learned from Jesus, the son of God.  Jesus told many stories that obliterated race boundaries.  His message was that of love, reconciliation and peace.

Give peace a chance.