Dreaming

As the new year has begun, I have often been thinking of dreams. Yes, dreaming is part of who we are. When we sleep we dream of things that have been in our lives and things that we do not want as part of our lives (we call these nightmares). We dream about our future: what will it look like? what would we like to see happen? how would we like to be when we’re such-and-such age? We dream dreams that are filled with joy and happiness and dreams that are sad and depressing at times. At times we remember our dreams and at other times we have no idea if we have dreamed or not. Either way, we dream.

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream. Some think that his dream died with him, but his words are immortal:

“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

” I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, swetlering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

“I have a dream today!

“I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of ‘interposition’ and ‘nullification’ — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

“I have a dream today!

“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; ‘and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.’

“This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.”

What is missing today in these United States? I think that dreaming is missing. We are missing the dreams that we once had as a nation. The American Dream is not merely owning your own car or your own home. The American Dream is that this truly is a melting pot of all sorts of people from all other nations of the world that are united in keeping freedom alive and well. Instead, we have been introduced to the nightmare of the nations: people fighting and killing their own people in war after war. This is not the American Dream. What we will hear from the President of the United States in his State of the Union Address this evening will be nothing short of him essentially saying that we are no different than the rest of the nations of the world. I beg to differ, Mr. Obama. I beg to differ because we have been a nation that has served this globe well by keeping the peace around the world. Peace through power is what has allowed this great nation to live the dream that we have lost.

Whether you agree with the last statement or not, it is America and her ideals that have made the world a far better place than any other nation. Why do you suppose that people of all nations and faiths are trying to come here? Is it merely to destroy us? For some, the answer is yes. Yet for the majority of those coming to our shores daily they want to experience what it means to be free, to own, to grow their families in safety and solace. The majority of people coming to our shores want to experience the American Dream. And what do we have to offer them today? We have to offer them free this and free that which is costing the rest of us a lot of what we have. And to what benefit is it that we simply give and give and give? Have we forgotten the principle, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for one day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”?

The American Dream has always been one of working hard to become and to do whatever you freely can do (within reason, of course, not like those who are protesting in the streets are on Wall Street). It has always been that we Americans utilize our own ingenuity, our own inventions. It has always been that we have been able to feed our families through hard work and discipline as a nation. Now all we have is trillions of dollars of debt and a whole heap of troubles caused not only by Democrats but by Republicans just the same. Progressivism or liberalism has tainted these United States with the marks of death and decay. This is what has stolen the American Dream from generations to come.

Dream, dream, dream: to dream the impossible dream again is what is needed. To dream that we the people can make the necessary changes that we must make in the Congress, in the White House, in our State legislatures. To dream that we the people can come together once again and rebuild the communities that have been lost to those who would come to these shores and ravage them into pieces–like Detroit and other places. To dream that we as a nation can become united once again in keeping peace around the world through being the super-power we once were. To dream that we can change what has been changed for the worse of our nation. Let’s dream together–united in working hard for our families and for our communities and for our nation, and yes, for the hope of the nations who are looking to us for the freedoms they are so desperate to gain.

Dream…