Every once in a while, light comes to us not as a slow sleepy sunrise, but as a meteor. Jack London, in his amazing quote, put it best when he wrote this: “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of humankind is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
Every year, as I prepare my heart for Martin Luther King ay, I read a couple of MLK, Jr’s speeches, and watch documentaries about the movement in the world for racial justice. It is one of my favorite weeks of the year! I get so inspired. I wake up from my sleepy “planet” stage and get inspired to be a “superb meteor,” or at least try!
Last night I watched a wonderful documentary called “38 at the Garden”. It’s the story of Jeremy Lin, an undrafted Asian American basketball player who erupted onto the scene of NBA basketball to score 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the L.A. Lakers at Madison Square Garden. Lin was a superb meteor that night. Later, in Toronto, he did something no Asian American could have thought possible. He waved off his teammates with just 5 seconds left in the game, signaling to them and the whole world, that he was going to take the last shot. And with 2 seconds left, his team down two, Jeremy Lin sunk a 3-pointer and won the game. Here’s how Hasan Minhaj, an American comedian and writer describes this event:
“When he hit the game winner in Toronto. All my friends kept texting me, ‘Did u see the wave off? Did you see the wave-off? Did you see the wave-off?’ You know what that means? Can you believe that we have dignity? Did you see the way he did that? No, no, no. It’s my game, too. I deserve to be here too. It’s not a mean thing. It’s not a ‘I hate my teammates thing.” It’s ‘What if I had the same audacity and confidence you had?’ I remember after he hit that shot, I thought to myself, ‘How many moments in my own life did I pass up the ball or hold myself small? How many times did I turn in that assignment or not audition for that thing or not put my name as number one on that sheet? How many times did I not wave someone off?’ That’s what that moment meant to me.”
What an incredible moment in history not only for the Asian American community, but for the whole world! What a wonderful question: "How many moments in my own life did I pass up the ball or hold myself small?"
In much the same way, I feel like Martin Luther King, Jr did that in his “I have a dream” speech. He waved all the doubters off, stood up to the microphone and made the whole world stop and see just what a human being can really be and become! He was a superb meteor, every atom of him in magnificent glow, and when he spoke, many on our sleepy planet woke up to the fact that we could be better. That we could rise higher. That we could not only dream but make that dream real! This black human being from the wrong side of the tracks, hit the deep three and when it sank through the tangled nets of America’s complicated history of racism, the strings to that tangled and sinful net were forever severed.
Oh, I’m well aware that we still struggle with this plague on our soil and in our hearts, but when I go back and listen to King share his dream for America, it isn’t just the dream of every African American in our country, it is my dream...it is our dream...it is, indeed, God’s dream.
I often ponder, when I listen to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak, if the disciples felt the same way I feel, when they listened to Jesus speak? Because for me, when I listen to King, I absolutely feel like his words come from something deeper and greater than all of us. When I hear King speak, I ask myself, “How many moments in my own life did I pass up the ball or hold myself small?”
Please, I beg you, go back today and listen to Martin Luther King dream again. Pick up a poem or two by Laura Gorman, read a passage from Bell Hook’s wonderful book “All About Love: New Visions,” and take a look at the documentary about Jeremy Lin called “38 at the Garden”.
Catch the dream and dare to become a magnificent and brilliant blaze of hope for this world. Quit playing small ball, wave off the doubt, and shine!
Your friend and pastor, trying to stay woke in a frustratingly sleep planet, Brook
Here is a YouTube video about the making of "38 at the Garden". The actual documentary is on Max TV.
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