Happy New Year from The Marin Foundation!

As I continue on my spiritual journey throughout life, I enjoy taking time to sit down and read the Bible. I do this not as an atonement for my sins or for some ritual significance of a perceived obligation to being a good Christian. Rather, I find the Bible as an intriguing literary ancient text where in lies the hidden secrets and mysteries of a salvation to an unseen spiritual realm dating back thousands of years. It is that mystery that spawns the depths of authors, theologians and critics alike; all trying to surface the epistemological truth of what our human brains are yet to understand. Of all of the books in the Bible, in as much the book of Daniel has the true visionary keepsake of eternity and the end of times, waiting for the moment when the metaphors come to light, the dreams become a reality, and change sets in as all that we know to be our existence will be as only the greatest of our imagination can produce.

On January 16, the United States of America celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day. To me, MLK Day ultimately stands for a doctrine rooted in the belief of change and the subsequent reactions of a man’s life on the line. There is nothing more difficult than to influence and successfully change mainstream’s mind set on a broad, historically rooted and culturally acceptable topic. However, Martin Luther King had an imagination, an imagination that was filled with peace. Martin Luther King had a vision, one that he foresaw all brothers walking in arms with each other. Martin Luther King had a dream, a dream that began and ended with an America that lived its full existence in complete oneness with each other and its Creator. Martin Luther King understood the necessity in trusting in an ancient text and trusting in an everlasting God in whom goes beyond the normalcy so easily lived in, within our time here on Earth. Two thousand years earlier a man named Daniel believed in the same God of power and strength and change.

Time and time again did Daniel dream and dare to be different through his undying faith in a God that would eventually change the decrees and the mind of the most powerful king on Earth. Daniel chose to eat different foods, drink different drinks, and interpret different dreams that no one else could interpret. He stuck out in all ways and in everything he did. Daniel’s best friends were thrown into an inferno, and Daniel was even thrown into a lion’s den because he decided to live his life as a choice for God as every single person around him bowed down to bronze. Later, as Martin Luther King chose to be different and stand out for what he dreamed as integrated change, so does The Marin Foundation prayerfully strive in our vision for the GLBT and religious communities, laying a new work for the ones that came before us, and building a solid base for the ones who will come after us. Dreams, visions, change…it is all too easy to stay stagnant and rest on the imagery and imagination of our predecessors. Yes, our lives are part of a legacy venturing back thousands of years, but were it not for those that fought for a new direction, a new dream and a new destiny, our world would still be on the crooked path it once was on. I am not sitting here writing this to make a statement of some grandeur fulfillment of what The Marin Foundation is doing. I am writing this to reiterate the fact that perceptions and change do not come about through unconventional means by the dreams and visions of our fathers. True change and spiritual revival are rooted in the visions and dreams of those who dare to be different and step out in faith for what they believe to be righteous.

Thank you and God Bless,

Andrew Marin