You are people who dream and hope and want to impact the world by strengthening communities one community at a time.

When I come to a meeting or have a conversation with one of you I become more aware of the uniqueness of the places you have been called to lead.

Let me tell you about my place. The little town of Selma. She is beautiful but she is poor. Selma is nestled on the banks of the Alabama River and was once a city bustling with river commerce but that was a long time ago.

She happens to be one of the oldest cities in the state, but she is also famous.

Famous for a March led by Dr. Martin Luther King , Jr.  that took place 50 years ago this weekend. The march was a protest against grave racial injustices that were happening in many places but specifically in Selma.

The march ended horribly at the foot of the bridge that is the heart of the city.

This weekend we will celebrate the anniversary of what is called Bloody Sunday.

President Obama and other presidents and upwards of 60,000 will be in attendance.

It is  humbling to call this place my community because we continue to struggle with the remains of racism.

But we have a YMCA.

A place where everyone is the same and everyone is welcomed. In a town where schools are for the most part segregated at the Y black and white children play together  on basketball and soccer teams,  in day camp  and swim together getting ready for competition.

In a town where most churches are  predominantly one race or the other, at our Y black men and women exercise and laugh together every day From 5 am to 8 pm.

They drink coffee in our lobby. We have joy in our midst.

We are growing. And I am very thankful.

A few weeks ago weeks ago at the YUSA meeting for Leading Change held in Clearwater, Florida our instructor Tom Lowery  reviewed with us Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream speech.”

I haven’t heard it in years.

He said this…”I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, … one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

I was stunned when I heard it and thought I am living the fulfillment of this man’s dream.

Dr. King died for us to see the freedom he dreamed of.

Hundreds in my community are living his dream at our YMCA.

It reminds me of Jesus’s words: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains [just one grain; it never becomes more but lives] by itself alone.But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest.”

I am awed that we are reaping the harvest of Martin Luther King’s life and his sacrifice.

I wonder whose dream you are harvesting.

-Ann Murray

CEO of YMCA of Selma-Dallas County