As I drift into the new year, I have found myself fighting to keep my head above the ripple of life. Within nineteen days I’ve lost a family member, a friend, and a mentor. I have spent the majority of my year in funeral homes or at a grave. It would be far too easy for me to hold my breath beneath the water. Instead, I’ve asked myself what I would want from people on my day of passing. So I lift my head, kick my feet, and swim for dry land. For today I have hope.
I awoke this morning to Martin Luther King’s vocal cords spilling from the television speakers. A dream of dreams where equality reigns. A voice as powerful as a thunderous roar, yet as peaceful as a gentle breeze. “Free at last,” he cries, as the crowd cheers with unified amazement. It was the dawn of a new day. He was an orator of hope.
Tomorrow I’ll watch as the forty-fourth president, Barack Obama, is sworn into office. He is the vessel for so many of our dreams. After campaigning and watching his grassroots movement grow into a global change, this is possibly the proudest moment in our country’s history. Will he bring us together? How high will he take us? He is the man who came from a dream. He is an orator of hope.
Being surrounded by death has rejuvenated my lungs. It is a reminder that the old must pass for there to be new. We are a species of mindful evolution. We all continue to swim for dry land no matter how high the waves. On the eve of a new day, I have hope.
JP
2009
--Martin Luther King Jr.
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