Memories of MLK’s ‘Dream’ speech

How do we grow to an outlook and commitment in life to embrace and carry forth the life, example, and teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr.?  It may be a source of individual strength while honoring Dr. King on this year’s Jan. 19 day that has been placed on our yearly calendars, to ask:  Where does my posture fit in?

In brief, my identification with the “Dream Speech” can be traced to Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Classes in Sociology, where I gained information on racism, the need for justice, and equal education, helped mold my conscience. The chapel services that lifted up the themes of God’s care for all, the ethical horizons that can be reached by forgiveness and compassion, were present both in the words and example of President Christensen.

In this seemingly more twisted world, inflamed by wars and tension on every continent, the message of Martin Luther King, Jr. needs to be shouted from the rooftops. The message with the miracles of our electronic devices can be brought into every home, classroom and office. At our fingertips, we have the insight into human motive, behavior, and the cry of the human heart. We as idealists; we who hunger for a better world; we who want to live with a destiny that rubs against all we meet, will be better persons by allowing Dr. King’s dream to be at least a part of our dreams.  Let us hear on this national holiday, the words that are like gifts from heaven:

Excerpt of MLK’s ‘I have a dream’ speech:

I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed — we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by content of their character. I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with words of interposition and nullification, that 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 have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places shall be made plain, and the crooked places shall be made straight and the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope.  This is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.  With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.  This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning — “my country ‘tis of thee; sweet land of liberty; of thee I sing; land where my father died, land of the pilgrim’s pride; from every mountain side, let freedom ring” — and if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that.

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children — black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants — will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”