When Joy Breaks Through
Last Monday night, I watched Martin Luther King Jr.’s entire I Have a Dream speech.
I watched it with my “Educating Ourselves about Race & Racism” class over Zoom. Maybe you’ve seen it, but I’m pretty sure I’d never viewed all 17 minutes of his historic speech.
We tend to highlight the end of that address, you know, the famous part that many of us can almost quote from memory. It’s stirring and beautiful. We declare that we share the same dream that King implores us to strive for. I, too, have a dream.
However, hearing the speech in its entirety was an equally powerful experience. One quote, among many, stuck out:
Do not wallow in the valley of despair.
In 1963, there was a lot to despair about. Civil rights advocates were being murdered, beaten, and their homes were firebombed. Things were not safe. The outlook was bleak. Hope must have been waning.
Do not wallow in the valley of despair.
Today, there seems to be so much despair as well. The hostile takeover of cities. Cruelty for cruelty’s sake. Immigrant brothers and sisters, children of God, vilified at every turn. Hope is waning. Sometimes, hope even feels like a privilege.
But then, a wedding happens. Our daughter, Rachel, married Peyton last Saturday. And in the valley of despair – when friends are ill, when our congregations are getting smaller, when politics divides and does not unite, when all seems chaotic – the Oregon sun made a brilliant appearance, the sanctuary was full, and joy broke out as church bells rang.
Suddenly, there was no wallowing in the valley of despair. There was hope and happiness and gratitude. There was a couple looking forward to all the years ahead of them.
This joy does not mean ignoring the sadness or the tumult of the world around us. Oh no.
A wedding, a newborn baby, the singing of an old spiritual, a meal shared in community, a beautiful sunset…these give us the energy to move on. To take up the mantel of hope. MLK’s dream, so eloquently revealed way back in 1963, cannot come about if we despair.
So, let gratitude overflow.
Let joy be a way forward.
There is work to do.
Photo credit: dnilrothanak@pixabay.com
Cesie Delve Scheuermann (pronounced “CC Delv Sherman,” yes, really) is a Stewardship Consultant for the OR-ID Annual Conference. She is also a Senior Ministry Strategist with Horizons Stewardship – helping with capital campaigns and encouraging more generosity. For 25 years, while working as a volunteer and part-time consultant, she has helped raise millions of dollars for numerous churches and non-profit organizations. She wants you to listen to the interview opera singer Denyce Graves gave on her retirement. Talk about gratitude...
You can reach Cesie at inspiringgenerosity@gmail.com, at CesieScheuermann.com, or at cesieds@horizons.net. Want to schedule a meeting? She’s got you covered!
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