No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end, no
This is my grown up Christmas list

written by David Foster (music) and Linda Thompson-Jenner (lyrics).

I peek through sleepy, moist eyelashes on an unusually warm late Autumn morning. The unstable, spiraling world I left last night was just as much on edge as before. Should we require more from her than we currently do, it appears daunting, to say the least. 

Sometimes, it is enough to turn over, hit the snooze button, throw the pillow over my head, and fall back into the world of unconsciousness, searching to reawaken that dream that was so elusive and fleeting.

I know it all sounds like the rambling silliness of a child now separated from the nurturing of a parent, the assurance of a teacher, or the hopeful words from  Francis Pharcellus Church to say, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.“

What does it mean for our anxious society in search of itself and for the cause of racial justice this Christmas season?

This time of year, dreams are not only encouraged but are expected to come true. From the childhood anticipation of rooftop reindeer and Christmas morning gifts under the tree, the child-like magic of Christmas Dreams never fades. We hope, trust, and believe in peace on earth and goodwill toward men. In this season of fulfilled dreams, we all have the liberty to dream of a better day, a time, a place, and our spot in both.

My dream is very much connected to the words of one of my favorite songs, My Grownup Christmas List. The lines, “Everyone would have a friend, and right would always win, and love would never end.”

The larger question is whether right always wins. In our partisan-driven, divided world, the paradox of who is right exists. The question is, who is right, and who are the winners? A look back into our past may shed some light on this conundrum. Chattel Slavery was the social norm; America fought a civil war over it. In the end, Slavery ended. The nation was still one and introduced the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, ensuring the freedom of full citizenship for African Americans along with any other future marginalized groups. In time, Jim Crow Laws once again separated Americans based on the social construct of race.

“Throughout U.S. history, families have pursued legal action in the hopes of achieving educational equality for their children. Individuals or small groups of parents appear to have acted on their own in the earliest cases. In later cases, state and national strategies of the NAACP clearly were at work. Slowly, the actions of attorneys representing parents and school children chipped away at legal segregation in schools. (Despite the Supreme Court ruling, schools in many cities are more segregated now than they were before Brown v. Board.) Court decisions began to provide some measure of protection for the idea of equality even in the bleakest of times for African Americans.” –https://www.civilrightsteaching.org/

The Brown vs Board of Education Supreme Court decision, later punctuated by the civil rights legislation, ended so-called separate but equal Jim Crow segregation, and the nation was one. In all of these examples and many more throughout world history, including the Holocaust and Apartheid, to name a few, none of these were solved overnight, but after years of perseverance and multiethnic consensus building and synergy, Right always figured out its meandering path to victory.

Today, our country is divided once again; the divisions are comprehensive. The Othering of class, Identity, faith, political party, gender, and the like have become the latest way of keeping a particular shrinking minority enshrined by the power they had in the nation’s beginning. Remember, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause,” Most importantly, My Grownup Christmas list reminds us of the season’s utter beauty begins with a young homeless couple starting their young family among livestock in a stable. Yet, they would have a child who would change the world.

The powerful words,” Everyone would have a friend.” bring reflection. Remember those friends and or family relationships you used to have before hyper-partisan and racialized politics and culture wars reinjected themselves back into the forefront of the American landscape? Finally, we must not dismiss the final statement on My Grown Up Christmas List: “And Love will never end.” My Christian beliefs will forever keep me considering the Scriptures’ great premise that God is Love. The creator’s love is immutable and Irrevocable. Because He is faithful, and He can be trusted. These words are echoed in 1Corenthians Tenth Chapter verse Thirteen, Amplified translation.

“For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.”

Whether a believer or not, know that in this holiday season of dreams, there is a landing place beyond frustration, doubt, and discouragement that tempts you to want to give up, lose hope, and capitulate, there is a landing place. Take some time and meditate on these two truths.

1 “Racism never goes away. It just adapts.”.” -Jemar Tisby

The phrase “Racism never goes away, it just adapts” means that while overt forms of racism may decline over time, prejudice and discriminatory practices can still persist in subtle or hidden ways, evolving to fit the social context, making it difficult to identify and address effectively; essentially, racism can change its form but never fully disappears.” Google, AI Overview: Source Systemic racism: individuals and interactions. Mahzarin R. Banaji, Susan T. Fiske & Douglas S. Massey Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications Article number: 82 (2021) https://rdcu.be/dZBeB

To be very clear, “Know where the real enemy lies because It would be a gross oversimplification to put it on one person or any group of people. Be encouraged because of what number two of our truths states:

2 “The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, But it Bends Toward Justice.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King’s often-quoted declaration reveals, if you can imagine, a moral measuring line. This measuring line weaves deeply through the circumference of human civilization, culture, and interactions with history, ultimately finding its way to righteousness, time and time again saving human beings from themselves. Individuals are not excluded from this active assessment and recalculation. In the same way, a GPS system will notify us when we veer off course in our attempts to proceed toward a destination. Yes, we can hear that familiar computerized voice saying “recalculating.” Every person has a conscience that, when tested, ultimately finds its way to Justice. However, the challenges to staying on course can be daunting, as people are swayed by influences such as physical or mental health challenges, greed or need, economic hardships, and a myriad of other influences, including bias, complicity, complacency, and just plain indifference.

Sometimes, it takes a nudge from the expansion of our souls under the increasing pressure of candles of hope, which burns bright in each one of us. The unquenchable fire of dreams set ablaze by courage, faith, and expectation that momentarily must descend, awaiting its turn for tomorrow. But know this: there is a landing place that is able to support you and your dream until it’s time to take flight and bend the arch that much closer to justice. So, take some time and enjoy this Christmas and Holiday season with family, and dare to reconnect with those old friends. They both may express a different perspective of the dream than you; the challenge for you is if you can imagine a dream big enough that they are a part of it, regardless of political and/or any other ideologies contrasting with your own. Keep on dreaming and working for the elusive beyond of Justice, knowing that, ultimately, “right will always win,”