Masai Greeting Poses Important Question

More than 36 years after Martin Luther King Jr. intoned his incredible “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, I still get chills rereading it. It is a poetic and passionate dream whose truth has far to go before it sleeps.

Among other visions in his dream, King looked for the day when his four 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.” That dream is far from being realized.

Another vision is focused on the state of Alabama, but its desire is found in every state of our nation. He hopes Alabama “will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.”

King talked about much more than his dream for children. But that dream for his and all children resonates so passionately with many of us.

The innocence and utter vulnerability of children must be the bottom line when evaluating how strong, how compassionate, how human a society we are.

Unfortunately, we don’t measure up very well at times. Newspapers and TV news shows are heavy with stories about children that should disturb us.

They convict us as a nation that often sacrifices our children’s welfare for economic or power leverage on local, regional and national levels.

I seek a simple yet effective reminder that how we consistently care for our children says so much about how we care for our nation, yea, the world. I may have found such a reminder.

It comes, perhaps ironically, from a warrior tribe in Africa, the Masai. Does it surprise you to know that the traditional greeting between Masai warriors is “And how are the children?”

The longtime traditional response to that question is, “All the children are well.”

Wow! In the Masai society, among a people who struggle to survive on a daily basis against nature and other peoples, the pivotal question is, “And how are the children?”

For the Masai, peace and safety prevail when the priorities of protecting, of caring for their defenseless young are in place.

We must continue to learn from the Masai, from any people, who keep their hearts and eyes on their children.

People from so many of the world’s faith traditions know the hearts of the Masai. We, too, have learned that care for the children is a central truth of our respective faiths.

Yet we too forget that truth under the twisted heat of the moment. And we compromised ourselves in the process.

What would it be like if we greeted each adult we meet with the Masai’s question: And how are the children?

How long might it be if we began to act differently toward our children, our neighbors’ children, our community’s children? If we heard that question asked every time we turned around in our work, in the stores where we shop, how long would it be before we worked more intentionally to act out the answer: All the children are well.

This question is beginning to reframe my thoughts as I prepare for being sworn in as Sandpoint’s mayor next week. I don’t plan an “inaugural speech.” But I do want to offer some vision to set the tone for the next four years of my administration. That vision will undoubtedly include more than a quick nod at the welfare of children.

I intend to remind all who might care even a smidgen that our community will be only as strong as our effort to protect the weakest of our citizens, our children.

As you go about your daily business, whether it is minding your own business or becoming involved in the business of your community, let me encourage you to do this: First ask yourself “And how are the children?” Then ask your community’s business and political leaders the same question.

Then if you’re so inclined, ask anyone else you seek out who can influence our local, state or national policies: “And how are the children?”

If you and everyone else can honestly respond, “All the children are well,” you are doing your job well.

If you and others cannot answer that way, then the basic task is before us, isn’t it?

God’s faith in us is acted out by us in how we do little and big things for the children of our homes, our communities, our states, our nations, our world.

The dream of Martin Luther King Jr. and countless others will move ever so closer to becoming a reality when we can consistently and joyfully answer, “All the children are well.”