Let us be Dissatisfied

It's Monday, and I have the day off seeing as it's Martin Luther King Jr. day, but for some reason Jack has school today, which means we just have one child filling our home today. And this is the child that naps. So for about 2 hours, the house is fairly quiet.

And I'm able to sit here in my thoughts and reflect on this day, on this man that is memorialized today, and the sermon from church yesterday, which ended with a clip from Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, Where do we go from Here?

And as his voice boomed through the speakers, and as goosebumps covered my flesh, I was once again reminded of the power behind this one man's conviction. His words are magic. His words are truth. His words are power.

And as I listened to him speak about divine dissatisfaction, my eyes began to fill with tears. This man had a vision, and he not only had the eyes and the courage to see and speak to what was, but he had the eyes to see what the world ought to be, and the hope to enter into that dissonance. And he challenged others to see the hope he had for a brighter future.

May we have the same eyes, may we have the same hope, may we have the same vision.

May we be divinely dissatisfied with the state of the world. May we have eyes to see the gap between what is and what ought to be. And may we mourn this disparity.

Because the truth is, seeing ultimately leads to mourning and it is in that mourning that we allow ourselves to be comforted by the one true Comforter (Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted - Matthew 5:4) and it is in that comfort that we find hope. And we can dream of a brighter future, all of this ultimately leads to the ability for us to become part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

You can't change anything if you can't actually see the problem.

May we have the courage to SEE, the courage to MOURN and the courage to be COMFORTED in order to see the hope that comes through Christ.

And may we have the courage to say something when we see something.

Let us be dissatisfied.

And I can't help but think about my boys, about the next generation we have the privilege of raising up. What are we teaching them?

My hope and prayer is that by the grace of God, Peter and I will raise up boys and eventually men who will be divinely dissatisfied with the way things are, who will have eyes to see the dissonance between what is and what ought to be.

My hope and prayer is that by faith these boys will have the courage to mourn and grieve this holy dissonance while resting in the hope and comfort that comes from the Lord.

My hope and prayer is that by faith these boys will ask the ask the hard questions that challenge the systems.

My hope and prayer is that we will raise up boys who will ultimately see God's hand in everyone and everything.

My hope and prayer is that by the grace of God, we will raise up boys that will say something when they see something. 

Let us be dissatisfied.

Are you divinely dissatisfied? Do you see the dissonance in our world? Do you question the systems and the way things are? Do you ask questions that challenge the status quo?

May we begin to be curious, asking questions to learn more about what is and what ought to be. May we stand firm in the Lord, as He is our hope and peace as we wrestle with this holy dissonance, with this divine dissatisfaction, as we look to a brighter future.

Let us be dissatisfied.

And in the beautiful words of MLK...

Let us be dissatisfied until America will no longer have a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds. 

Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort from the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice. 

Let us be dissatisfied until those who live on the outskirts of hope are brought into the metropolis of daily security.

Let us be dissatisfied until slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and every family will live in a decent, sanitary home.

Let us be dissatisfied until the dark yesterdays of segregated schools will be transformed into bright tomorrows of quality integrated education.

Let us be dissatisfied until integration is not seen as a problem but as an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity.

Let us be dissatisfied until men and women, however black they may be, will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not on the basis of the color of their skin. Let us be dissatisfied.

Let us be dissatisfied until every state capitol will be housed by a governor who will do justly, who will love mercy, and who will walk humbly with his God.

Let us be dissatisfied until from every city hall, justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Let us be dissatisfied until that day when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid.

Let us be dissatisfied, and men will recognize that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth.

Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout, "White Power!" when nobody will shout, "Black Power!" but everybody will talk about God's power and human power.