Martin Luther King Jr.

Tonight I listened to the "I Have A Dream" speech again. Every time I hear it it gives me chills. What a courageous, prophetic voice Martin Luther King Jr. was. An amazing model of what it means to speak to government with integrity of words and actions. We do well to honor his legacy both as Americans and as Christians.

Here are some of his words which ring in my ears:

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, other-centered men can build up.

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I've decided that I'm going to do battle for my philosophy. You ought to believe something in life, believe that thing so fervently that you will stand up with it till the end of your days. I can't make myself believe that God wants me to hate. I'm tired of violence. And I'm not going to let my oppressor dictate to me what method I must use. We have the power, power that can't be found in Molotov cocktails, but we do have a power. Power that cannot be found in bullets and guns, but we have a power. It is a power as old as the insights of Jesus of Nazareth and as modern as the techniques of Mahatma Gandhi.