I have a 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."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners 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 that 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 the 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 the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- 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, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

. . . And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

I was in eigth grade when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated -- April 4, 1968. Kids growing up in the sixties saw, heard, and experienced a lot of terrible and violent events. Little did I know then of the now infamous speech, "I have a dream." I was barely nine or ten when it was delivered on the steps of Lincoln Memorial. Some years later, however, as a young teenager, we had frequent firesides for the young people in our church/ward. One of the leaders had access to the entire Granite School District film collection (no videos -- not yet invented). It was common on Sunday evenings after sacrament meeting for all the young people of the ward to gather in the multipurpose room behind the chapel for a film fireside. We saw all kinds of films, but one that impressed me above all others was of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech. It impacted me then and now some 45 years later the speech is ever inspiring.

I have included with this post only a small excerpt from the original speech. But in this excerpt includes the most resounding message of the entire speech for me, personally. Repeated:

I have a dream that 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 the content of their character.

Wow!

I am pleased that we celebrate this brave man by honoring his birthday as a nation.