>If you know the name Julia Ward Howe, you probably know her as the writer of the lyrics to the Civil War Hymn “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Ms. Howe’s poetic voice also suggested Mother’s Day, long before it became a holiday, as a day to celebrate celebrate peace.

Martin Luther King Jr., believed in peaceful confrontation and nonviolent civil disobedience. I think he and Ms. Howe would have gotten along fine, had they lived in the same century. In recognition of Dr. King’s Dream, below is a re-post from Mothers’ Day 2008.

I dream that differences will be valued, not disdained.
Eye color, hair color, body shapes, and skin shades will be appreciated for their beauty and variety.
Cultural traditions will not disappear, but will thrive and grow together into a rich and fascinating sharing of knowledge and beliefs.
I dream that blindness will be merely a different way of seeing, and deafness impair only the quantity, not the quality of the language ‘heard’.
Children will matter because they own the future. Their education, academic and social, will become and remain of utmost importance.
The mediators and the peacemakers will be recognized as the strongest leaders.
Questions will come from curiosity, not ignorance, and the answers will breed respect.
Knowing each other, knowing ourselves, will lead to knowing that fights and conflicts, wars of all kinds, will cease to be of value.