Martin Luther King Day Prayer

by Rev. LeDayne McLeese Polaski

January 17, 2017
Carson-Newman University

God of the prophets,
ancient ones like Jeremiah,
recent ones like Martin Luther King, Jr.,
modern ones like John Lewis,
with humble hope we pray that you will infect us too with a dream

A dream big enough to reflect you and your will for this world you so love
a dream practical enough that it will mean liberation for real people right now
a dream hard enough that we’ll be forced to pray, “I need you every moment. Overcome my fears that I may not be afraid.”

May this dream so capture us that we’ll ponder it when we rise in the morning,
meditate on it throughout the day,
cherish it in the late night hours.

May it burn within us and burst forth from us.

And when we encounter the dreams of others,
may we hold them with tenderness and care
that we might be part of the community of hope that sustains them in staying true to the dreams of their hearts,
the dreams of your heart.

Today, tomorrow, all the days of this new semester, all the days of our lives,
may we remember love,
may we remember mercy,
may we live out of your dream for us.

AMEN

Notes: This prayer followed a sermon on Jeremiah 20:7-13 titled “Do Not Be Afraid to Speak Up” by Kadia Edwards.

“ponder it when we rise in the morning, meditate on it throughout the day, cherish it in the late night hours” is borrowed from the prayer May We Too Dream by Ken Sehested.