"In His Words" A 2008 Sermon from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Edited and Arranged by Pastor Daniel J. Megow)
In Honor and Tribute to, and in Memory of, a Great man who was tragically taken from us 40 years ago on April 4th, 2008. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of my own personal hero’s…
All the words are his. The intentional order in which I placed each of them in the following Sermon are my attempt to present a unified message composed of individual public statements that he made during his life with us. I pray that he would approve of this work, and that I have done Justice to his memory.
*********The Sermon*********
(From: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)
"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
"Life's most urgent question is: What are you doing for others? "
"If a man is called to be a street-sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street-sweeper who did his job well."
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
"Cowardice asks the question - is it safe? Expediency asks the question - is it politic? Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right."
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
"Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a 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.'"
"The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood."
"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."
"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. "
"We have flown the air like birds and swum the seas like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers."
"The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers."
"Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. "
"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."
"One who condones evils is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it."
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."
"Let no man pull you low enough to hate him. "
"True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice that produces beggars needs restructuring."
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. "
"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."
"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."
"If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values -- that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control."
"We must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means."
"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
Dear God,
Thank You for sharing Martin with us. May his memory inspire us each to be who we truly are, and all that we can be.
The Creator's Infinite Love to all of You,
Pastor Daniel
We, America, are seeing History Made before our very eyes!!! And we have been given the opportunity, the supreme Privilege, of becoming a Part of it...
The Time has Finally come, for a New Chapter in American History!
We have Paid the Price of Hope over these last 40 years. Those who planted the seed within us were taken away from us. John gave us a taste of Unity, Martin showed us a different but much Larger picture of True Unity, and Bobby made us Believe, made us Hope for the days when we could bring them together for the Greater Good... the Ideals of Equality, Peace and Brotherhood. These Ideals of the United States of America made possible by a quest for True and Universal Freedom begun by the much honored President Abraham Lincoln.
The Seeds were planted when the Boomers were in their youth... and then we were given 40 years of Fertilizer, watered by our blood, our sweat and our tears. Many gave up in Apathy, in Despair... absorbed by the other side... the side of conformity, the side of materialism and greed. Even so, many others of us still held on to our Hope, refusing to let go... Praying that we would See the Day, yet practically convinced that the time might have to wait for our children or grandchildren to be the beneficiaries.
The time has come America, and Barack Obama is the True and Honest and Wise Statesman that we have so long been waiting for. Do Not let this Opportunity Pass you by. Do not be one who says, "I Could have been a part of the Movement, but somewhere along the line I lost Hope."
The time is NOW America! Be a Part of the Movement!
Barack Obama, the Leader we Need right Now!
http://www.youtube.com/v/XvXbVcAl30c&rel=1
