“I say to you today, my friends, 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, live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'”

It has been almost 54 years since Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered these words from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial one August day at the culmination of a march on Washington. A critical turning point in the Civil Rights movement, the speech reached into the hearts of many Americans, inspiring us to action that would help realize this dream and claim it as our way of life. This Sunday, January 15, is Dr. King’s birthday and we honor him with a national holiday on Monday, January 16.

This Sunday in worship we will explore what it means for a community, for a congregation, for the Body of Christ to share a dream. Is Dr. King’s Dream still alive among us? What would Dr. King think of the dream that “all means all”? How are we living that dream? Are we working to make it come true?

I believe that St. Paul’s is one of those places where I see strong evidence that the “all means all” dream is alive and becoming reality every day. As it was in Dr. King’s day, so it is for us, “…even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow…” Perhaps not in spite of, but because of those difficulties, it is more important than ever to share that dream. So in worship this Sunday I hope we will inspire each other to keep dreaming, and to take bold and deliberate action to guarantee our dream’s fulfillment.

If not now, when?