Acknowledging the Giver of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dreams | Sojourners

Acknowledging the Giver of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dreams

110113-MLKIn anticipation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (this coming Monday, January 17, I'm sharing one of my favorite MLK Jr. quotes:

"When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

What's your favorite MLK quote?

Martin Luther King Jr. was an extraordinary person. Not perfect, but nevertheless, extraordinary. While we remember his legacy again on this day, let's not make the mistake of forgetting the God behind this extraordinary man.

It's way too easy to talk about MLK because so many people and groups of people want to own him as their own. But they often don't want to take ALL of him. At the core of his life, Martin Luther King Jr. was a follower of Jesus Christ. His faith in Christ informed all that he sought to do as a civil rights leader.

And that is precisely why his dream did not die upon his assassination. Because it wasn't his dream. This dream is bigger than one man, one race, one gender, and one generation. God is behind it all.

Dr. King was not a perfect man -- far from it. But he was a great man as he pursued to live out his definition of greatness: a servant of others. While many are familiar with his more well known speeches such as "I Have a Dream," another one that I'm particularly drawn to is his last "speech" -- delivered the day before his assassination.

"I just want to do God's will