I have been listening to and reflecting on the speeches of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today. Honestly, I don't remember ever hearing them before. Even if I had heard him in my youth, my child's mind could hardly have comprehended the gravity of his words. And while I Have a Dream is his most famous speech, I am most moved by I Have Been to the Mountaintop. You can find the full speech here.
In this particular speech, MLK, Jr.
muses about standing with God at the beginning of all time, when God
poses this question: “Martin Luther King, which age would you like
to live in?” Dr. King eloquently describes numerous times and
places throughout history, Egypt and the exodus, the great minds of
Greece, the Roman Empire, the Renaissance, the church of Wittenberg,
and the Emancipation Proclamation, until finally settling on the 2nd
half of the 20th century, the exact time and place that
God had reserved for him.
Dr. King understood that he was born
into that time and place for a reason. He knew he had a purpose and
he was faithful to that call. He worked tirelessly to convince the American people to
live up to the principles on which their nation was founded. He was stabbed, arrested, hosed, imprisoned, had
his house bombed, and yet continued to preach non violence. Dr. King
closed his speech by saying that he had been to the mountaintop, looked over the mountain and seen the Promised Land.
I long for a mountaintop moment...
Too frequently I feel like my life is shrouded in a thick fog. As I step and stumble, I question whether I'm getting closer or further away from my destination...somedays, I'm not even sure where I'm going. But I'm beginning to understand that there are many long days, weeks, months, even years, when one can only see just in front of us. The struggle of walking by faith, trudging one foot in front of the other, trusting that there will be solid ground beneath your feet, is a necessary part of the journey. Without it, would we fully recognize and appreciate our Promised Land?
The day after giving this speech, Dr. King was murdered on a hotel balcony. He was 39 years old.
I long for a mountaintop moment...
Too frequently I feel like my life is shrouded in a thick fog. As I step and stumble, I question whether I'm getting closer or further away from my destination...somedays, I'm not even sure where I'm going. But I'm beginning to understand that there are many long days, weeks, months, even years, when one can only see just in front of us. The struggle of walking by faith, trudging one foot in front of the other, trusting that there will be solid ground beneath your feet, is a necessary part of the journey. Without it, would we fully recognize and appreciate our Promised Land?
The day after giving this speech, Dr. King was murdered on a hotel balcony. He was 39 years old.
As I listened to his words, I wondered...do I believe anything
so dearly, so passionately, that I have given myself, both my living
and my dying, up for it?
If it's been a while since you've
listened to a MLK, Jr. speech, let me encourage you listen to a few
this week. I promise it will be worth your time.
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