I always appreciate taking part in the MLK march and prayer service each year. My favorite part comes when the march ends and we finish in worship, entering the sanctuary to sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Every time I sing that song, I remember a couple of things.
I see Ms. Joy Turner, my elementary school choir director. In the third and fourth grade, do-re-mi didn’t interest me much, but I could tell something was different about that song. And I didn’t understand then that she wasn’t just teaching us how to sing. She was actually teaching us how to pray, showing us that lifting our voices together could be an act of hope and dignity.
Another memory comes from Grandma. I was in high school, sitting at her house, when she called me over. I don't remember if it was something we were watching or just a conversation that got her thinking. But she looked at me and said, “Mijo, don’t forget that what they did to them, they did to us, too.” Grandma wasn’t bitter about it. I think it was her way of passing on her family's experience and tradition.
And memory, when held faithfully, carries responsibility. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. understood that shared memory could become shared mission. He believed the suffering of one community was bound to the suffering of all people. And that the healing of our nation would come not through violence or fear, but through disciplined, courageous, non-violent love.
Forgive me when I say this. I know today is a day to celebrate and honor MLK's dream. But that dream wasn't Martin's. It is God's. God gave it to him to share with us. And when we march and sing, we aren’t just remembering history, we are proclaiming our unity. The mission before us is still possible. Possible when we remember. Possible when we lift every voice. Possible when we choose the nonviolent way of building community and seeking peace.
Stay blessed...john | 
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