I Dreamed in a Dream

TTBB choir and piano

How do we dream a city of love into being? Isn’t a city of love one that cares for each other—not just in philosophy, but in practice? Whitman speaks of brotherhood, but I’d like to imagine a more expansive definition of belonging. We don’t choose our neighbors. We may not even like our neighbors. Yet we must find ways to live peacefully, side by side.

Consideration of another’s needs is a requirement of love. Perhaps we give that consideration but feel we don’t receive it in return. It’s never easy to negotiate our needs and wants—especially when our wishes collide with those of others.

In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s draft of Chapter III, “On Being a Good Neighbor,” he widens this vision even further:

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy. The true neighbor is the man who will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others. His altruism will not be limited to safe places, but it will move through dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways to lift some bruised and beaten brother to a higher and more noble life.”

Dr. King articulates a path we have yet to achieve. But may we—as neighbors, as a city, as states, as nations, as global citizens—strive with all our capacity toward this ultimate measure.