Martin Luther King Day

 

"And some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak.  We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak."

Martin Luther King, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence,  Riverside Church, 4 April 1967


"It is a dark day in our nation when high-level authorities will seek to use every method to silence dissent.  But something is happening, and people are not going to be silenced.

And don’t let anybody make you think that God chose America as his divine, messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America, 'You’re too arrogant!  And if you don’t change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I’ll place it in the hands of a nation that doesn’t even know my name.  Be still and know that I’m God.”

Martin Luther King, It's a Dark Day in Our Nation, Riverside Church, 30 April 1967

"But if not, I will not bow, and God grant that we will never bow, before the gods of evil."

Martin Luther King, Ebenezer Baptist Church, 5 November 1967


"I have come across something that troubles me very much. We have fought long and hard for integration, as I believe we should, and I know we will win. But it seems to me that we are integrating into a house on fire. America is losing the moral vision that it may once have had. And I fear that even as we integrate, we are entering a place that does not understand that this nation must be deeply concerned with the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. Until we commit to ensuring that the underclass receives justice and opportunity, we will continue to perpetuate the anger and violence that tugs at the soul of this nation." 

 Martin Luther King, to Harry Belafonte, March 27, 1968

"We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life — longevity has its place.   But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.

So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything, I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Martin Luther King, 3 April 1968 

The next day, 4 April 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee, 4 April 1968.

Exactly one year to the day after his first anti-war sermon, A Time To Break the Silence.  

He was warned against giving it, but his conscience would not permit him to remain silent. 

This was no coincidence.

This was madness, these brutal assassinations, these three contemptible murders, in the depraved pursuit of power and profits above all else, that continues even until this day.

  "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Ephesians 6:12