Bishop O.H. Lakey stood at the lectern at the Thomson Depot and eloquently expounded on just what Dr. Martin Luther King's dream means.
Quite simply, he said, the dream is something God gives us that the rigors of the world can't strip away. It's the hope that drives us, the passion that guides us.
He also chastised parents for girding their children with the trappings of society and not arming them with the spiritual armor they need to survive.
His words are good advice to all parents.
Something else from his quasi-sermon also struck a nerve. He said anyone can be a captive, but an individual must choose to be a slave.
Here again, that's where dreams come in.
"Dreams keep captives from being slaves," he said.
The bigger message is obvious: As individuals, only we can choose to be held down by society. Only we can choose to believe the stereotypes that can weigh us down.
And as long as we can dream, we can choose to fly.
