What if? Why not? I will!

Dreams become reality when they move from “what if…?” to “why not…?” to “I will…!”

What if I took the initiative to help my neighbor in her need; knocked on her door, called her on the phone, made the effort. What holds me back? *Well, I am very busy right now. *I don’t know anything about her. *She has never waved or said “hello.” *I might disturb her if I knocked on her door. But…”why not…? Why not step beyond the boundary of my own hesitation, my own reluctance to “get involved?” And since I can’t think of a truly honest reason, “I will…! I will take the first step, knock on her door, see if there is anything I can do to help out; I’ll be her neighbor.

And he did. And she needed help. And they are now friends. And now when he sits in church on Sunday mornings and hears the message: everyone is my neighbor, he thinks of how many times he has been “too busy” or “too tired” or “too cautious” and he offers a prayer of forgiveness.

“I believe that even amid today’s mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow.” The dream persists. “I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.” As we observe this Martin Luther King, Jr Day, consider the “what if ?” and the “why not?” and the “I will!” And take these words to heart: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

Who is my neighbor?, the man asked Jesus long ago. We know the answer in our hearts. It is time to turn dreams into realities…what ifs to why nots to I will. It is time.