[pullquote align=”left” background=”on”]Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others? – Martin Luther King, Jr.[/pullquote]

On April 3, 1963 a young pastor stood before all of the people of this nation to announce his declaration of a dream that would soon change this world. It would become the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation, and the turning point for the equal rights of all human beings.

[blockquote]”When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”[/blockquote]

And, as he stood there looking out onto the sea of dreams before him – he spoke the very words others were too fearful to share.

[blockquote]”This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”[/blockquote]

From the mountaintop he called, and from that mountaintop he cried,  “I have a dream…”

[blockquote]They told us we wouldn’t get here. And there were those who said that we would get here only over their dead bodies, but all the world today knows that we are here and we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama saying, “We ain’t goin’ let nobody turn us around[/blockquote]

In the years following, he would dedicate the fullness of every one of his moments to this dream of equality for all.

And on March 25, 1965, he led thousands of ‘nonviolent crusaders’ in the completion of a 54-mile journey from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama – a march to serve as a ‘shining moment in the conscience of man,’ and a the culmination of a lengthy campaign to eliminate the to the completion of a 54-mile pilgrimage from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama – a city known as the “Cradle of the Confederacy.”. The march, which King described as “a shining moment in the conscience of man,” was the culmination of a three-month campaign to eliminate African American disenfranchisement in Alabama.

It was a triumph of the civil rights movement, serving as a catalyst to the passing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act – designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed under the 14th and 15th amendments.

It also prohibited States from imposing voter qualifications, such as literacy tests and similar actions, to disenfranchise minorities.

All for the actions of one simple man, who allowed his personal will to displace all of Fear’s might.

[blockquote]”… So I stand before you this afternoon with the conviction that segregation is on its deathbed in Alabama, and the only thing uncertain about it is how costly the segregationists and Wallace will make the funeral.”[/blockquote]

And, to this day, we stand still in the brilliance of his light.

But, my dears…our dreams are merely a reflection of mankind’s truest potential.

Dr. King understood this – and with every word, every single thought and deed…he walked a path of peaceful non-violence.

He stood before the very men who opposed, and even hated him – to see the fear that raged on in the shadows of their soul.

[blockquote]We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the Black man. That will be the day of man as man….

I know you are asking today, “How long will it take?” Somebody’s asking, “How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?” Somebody’s asking, “When will wounded justice, lying prostrate on the streets of Selma and Birmingham and communities all over the South, be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men?” Somebody’s asking, “When will the radiant star of hope be plunged against the nocturnal bosom of this lonely night, plucked from weary souls with chains of fear and the manacles of death? How long will justice be crucified, and truth bear it?”

I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long because “truth crushed to earth will rise again.” …

… His truth is marching on.[/blockquote]

It is these words that we must hold close to our hearts, to effect gracious action towards all human beings…and to offer our hope that compassion may soon prevail.

Isn’t it amazing that after half a century, his words are still as powerful today as they were when first spoken?

And, to serve as a much needed reminder that no mountain is ever too tall to scale.