In every generation, there are...
Illustration
Object:
In every generation, there are those who would kill the dreamers. John F. Kennedy
dreamed of a "new frontier" -- and Lee Harvey Oswald's bullet cut him down in Dallas.
His brother, Robert, liked to quote George Bernard Shaw: "You see things; and you say
'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?' " -- Sirhan Sirhan ended
that dreamer's life in the kitchen of a California hotel. Martin Luther King Jr.'s most
famous speech was all about having a dream -- a dream that placed him squarely in the
crosshairs of James Earl Ray's riflescope.
Those are just three examples of dreams from recent American history; we could cite many more from other countries and cultures. Maybe the best example of all is Jesus. He was a dreamer; and it was the persistent way he hung onto his dreams -- even as Pilate was offering a sleazy plea-bargain -- that sent him to the cross.
The sons of Jacob tried to murder their dreamy brother, and they nearly succeeded; but one thing they never could kill was the dream itself. That's the fundamental error of those who traffic in prejudice and hatred. They imagine they can kill the dream by attacking the dreamer. "Throw him down the well," they say: "we'll see what will become of his dreams."
What becomes of dreams -- of good and Godly dreams, anyway -- is that when they are assailed, they grow even stronger.
Those are just three examples of dreams from recent American history; we could cite many more from other countries and cultures. Maybe the best example of all is Jesus. He was a dreamer; and it was the persistent way he hung onto his dreams -- even as Pilate was offering a sleazy plea-bargain -- that sent him to the cross.
The sons of Jacob tried to murder their dreamy brother, and they nearly succeeded; but one thing they never could kill was the dream itself. That's the fundamental error of those who traffic in prejudice and hatred. They imagine they can kill the dream by attacking the dreamer. "Throw him down the well," they say: "we'll see what will become of his dreams."
What becomes of dreams -- of good and Godly dreams, anyway -- is that when they are assailed, they grow even stronger.
