Today we celebrate the Reverend's life, his work, but most of all his mission. As a family tradition, we always either listen to or watch a video of the "I have a dream" speech he made on the capital steps, which I believe captures the core of his attitude for all mankind so well. The words and the emotion behind them moves me powerfully and I get teary-eyed every time, especially that last line:
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
So long as his dream stays alive in our hearts, the world will be a better place.
I get teary at that part, too. Every time! May I recommend to your readers "The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr," a collection of his writings, letters, and speeches, edited by Clayborne Carson. It shows his humility and spiritual power came from truly seeing every person as an equal child of God. What a great inspiration to all of us!
ReplyDelete