"I Have a Dream"—What Would
Dr. King Say to Us Today?
   
I have served in the Genesis Primary for more than eight years, and I have loved every minute of it. Because I am always with the children, many of you may not know me. I am an idealist. I am a believer. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am a reader. I have studied the teachings and lives of the prophets and many other noble, historic figures. I have been helped and healed—encouraged and inspired by their examples and their oratory. Martin Luther King, Jr., stands with the great ones as a dreamer of dreams—a pioneer of peace. As I pondered this opportunity to share my testimony, I considered how his "I Have a Dream" speech might be applied to our circumstances. What might he have said to us, today—in context of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? I have taken his speech and, in a sense, "Mormonized" it. I mean no disrespect to Dr. King or those who love him. On the contrary, it is due to my great respect for the timeless truths that Dr. King espoused and the message that he stood for that I wrote this adaptation. It is his "adapted" speech that I would like to leave with you tonight.
—Katherine Z. Hawkins

Joseph SmithNine score and six years ago, a great American whose birth we honor this year received the Emancipation revelation. Those truths, revealed to a 14-year-old boy, came as a great beacon of hope to millions enslaved by the darkness of ignorance and false traditions. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred and eighty-six years later, we must face the tragic fact that we are still not free.

One hundred and eighty-six years later, many are still sadly crippled by the manacles of ignorance, false traditions, and pride that destroy nations. One hundred and eighty-six years later we see many of those we love living on lonely islands of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of spiritual prosperity. One hundred and eighty-six years later, many of our brothers and sisters are languishing in the corners of cultural halls and chapels finding themselves exiled in their own land.

So we have come here to today to be part of the solution to a disturbing condition. Because we refuse to believe that it is a hopeless situation. We refuse to believe that God does not know or does not care. We choose to believe that enough truth and love can and will make a difference.

We have come to claim the promise of God that "when ye are one, ye are mine." We come to this hallowed spot because we see what is happening in the world around us and we know of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of eventualities or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of ignorance and separation to the sunlit path of truth and brotherhood.

Now is the time to open the doors of revelation to all of God's children. It will be fatal for our children if we overlook the urgency of the moment. The whirlwinds of evil will continue to shake until the foundations of testimony are established and solid. Our children will be vulnerable and at risk until they understand who God is and who they are in relation to Him.

We do not walk alone in this quest—but God, in all His majesty and power and love, walks with us, and as we walk we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead to Zion. We cannot turn back. There are those who ask, "When will we be satisfied?" We cannot be satisfied until all of our children know the truth about their spiritual heritage and their eternal possibilities. We cannot be satisfied until all of our children understand how to access God's throne and receive answers to their prayers. We cannot be satisfied until our children know where to look for salvation. We can never be satisfied until each of our children is born again as a child of Christ and able to sing the song of redeeming love. No, no we will not be satisfied until that great day when God returns in all His glory and we gather our families to kneel at His feet and He welcomes us home.

I am not unmindful of the daily struggles necessary to teach and reach out to those we love. Some experience great trials in their efforts to bless and save their families—even receiving abuse and brutality in return for your love. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive and pure love never fails.

Go back to Palmyra, go back to Kirtland, go back to Nauvoo. Let us not look at the difficulties and frustrations, but rather witness the faith and the miracles of those first Latter-day Saints, and then with that same faith let us go back to our homes knowing that the very God who planted the truth in their hearts will plant it in our hearts and the hearts of our children. And that seed, watered by the spirit of God, will become the tree of life from Father Lehi's dream. This is the true American dream. And it is my dream, that all of my children will partake of the fruit of that tree, that God's peace will swell in their hearts and that they will inherit eternal life.

cloudsI have a dream that each of us will "awake" and arise and as President Hinckley invites, "live up to our privileges"—that angels cannot be restrained from being our associates. I have a dream that in spite of the gathering darkness, every gathering of saints will be a light on a hill, offering hope to the hopeless and welcome to the weary. I have a dream that all of God's children will come to understand the true nature of God and what He expects and have a determination born of love to follow Him at all costs. I have a dream that that determination will produce a faith with so much power that we will walk in miracles daily.

Genesis is one of those miracles. Here, we have little black boys and girls who join hands with little white boys and girls and walk together as brothers and sisters. In this loving place my children are judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream that this unity will increase and all of our children will be taught of the Lord and great will be the peace of our children. And together we will shout the good news to the world until that day when every valley shall be exalted, 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. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our hearts and homes and neighborhoods into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to suffer together, to testify together and rejoice together as the oppression and darkness of the adversary, which is but for a small moment, will flee and Zion's banner will be unfurled. Then all that was promised the Saints will be given and we will be crowned with the angels of heaven. And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden and Christ and His people will ever be one.

That future Zion starts in our own homes and then extends to fill the world. But there will be no peace in the world until there is first peace in our own hearts. Our inner peace will cause all confusion and contention to be put away and allow each of us to seek the interest of our neighbor. With love in our hearts and unity in our minds we will join with the mighty prophet Joseph to proclaim,
"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."
Then with the veil ripped from our minds we will gather with our children, with our ancestors, and with our descendants to meet our Heavenly parents at the glorious gates of Heaven and sing with hearts of gladness, "Home at last, Home at last, thank God almighty we are home at last."