Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered in 1963 from the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial to the 250,000 souls gathered there, still speaks to all of us:
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the color of their skin
but by the content of their character.
My brother Tim Hall was there in the crowd that day.
He went South and risked his life working to make Dr. King’s dream come true.
He later wrote:
Do not believe you cannot change men’s hearts.
The hearts of some men are changing the world,
and the world will turn around and change the hearts of the others.
The content of our heart
channels the content of our character.
So let’s ask:
What is the content of my heart?
Have I ever asked another person the content of their heart?
Maybe it is time.
Are you willing?
Let’s DO this!
A conversation
A few days ago, I was sharing with my fiance the sorrow I am feeling about a friend
who is not doing well.
I felt he fully heard me, understood, and deeply cared.
When I finished I thanked him for listening.
I said “Thank you for hearing the content of my heart.”
Then I thought:
“Wow. He doesn’t just care about me. He also cares about what I care about.
He doesn’t just love the part of my heart that loves him.
He also cares about the REST of what is in my heart!!!”
“Wow,” I thought. “This means he loves the whole me.”
I was quite moved by this realization, and I told him so.
What does this mean about love?
Maybe it means in order to be loved as a whole person,
we need to share the content of our heart.
Our partner needs to receive it with love,
and we also need to know the content of their heart,
and care deeply about it.
In this way, we love our partner as a whole person.
Together we hear each other speak from our hearts.
We spend a lot of time listening, and getting inside what is being shared.
We spend a lot of time being transparent, open and honest with our feelings.
Thus we build our trust, our connection, our deep intimacy.
So let’s take a step
Let’s begin by taking a good look inside our own heart.
What do we have tucked away in there?
What is it that we treasure?
What do we love most in this whole big wide world?
Let’s see if we can see what’s in there…
See if we can name the main things that form the content of our heart.
I would love to share with you what is in my heart,
but I do that every week in my posts,
and it’s better here for you to have your own fresh canvas to paint on!
Think of it as:
If someone were to REALLY get to know me…
if I were to share with them the treasures of my heart…
here they are:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
I’m with you today as you ask yourself this question.
The treasures of your heart are really, really important!
One day someone is going to love them as they love you.
QUESTION:
Is there someone you would be comfortable sharing your treasures with?
Or maybe someone you would be comfortable asking about theirs?
I hope you will write and tell me how it goes.
Dr. Hall