On a cool November morning in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Abraham Lincoln stepped up on a makeshift wooden platform, pulled a speech from his hat and spoke these words, "...It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom --- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." At that moment he was surrounded by war, death and dissension.
One hundred years later, in the shadow of Lincoln's memorial, Martin Luther King Jr., thundered, "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." Many considered his dream a fantasy.
As Lincoln rode on the train towards Gettysburg, he gathered words from decades of struggle and thousands of faces, scribbled them down and deposited them into his tall, black, felt-lined hat. MLK chiseled his words from granite, a lifetime of racism and oppression of a soul that longed for more.
James K.A. Smith wrote, "We long our way through life." We live in a present that is not as it should be. But, when we dare to quiet our minds and still our hearts, we know in subterranean ways there is more goodness to be found. So, we keep looking. We keep working to clear the barnacles and encrustations of life that threaten to cover the gleam of a hoped for future.
Each time we teach our children, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" we step onto the wooden platform with Lincoln. When we pray, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" we join hands with Reverend King and acknowledge the world is not as it should be.
What is a longing in your life?
Take the next four minutes and still yourself. Turn off your phone. Forget the news cycle. Be still and listen for the longing in your life.
If a bit of guidance would be helpful, think of your life in concentric circles. You/Your Family/Your Community/The World. Pick one of these areas and focus on it over the next moments.
Once you've finished, write down one step you can take today to make your longing a reality.
