The Legacy of Martin Luther King,Jr.: The Church in Action

Abstract

“Sometimes—yes sometimes—the good Lord … I say the good Lord … accepts his own perfection, and closes his eyes, and goes ahead, and takes his own good time, and he makes himself a man. Yes! And sometimes that man gets hold of the idea of what he's supposed to do in this world, and he gets an idea of what it is possible for him to do. And that man lets that idea guide him as he grows and struggles, and stumbles, and sorrows … until finally he comes into his own God-given shape, and achieves his own individual and lonely place in this world. It don't happen often. Oh, no! But when it does, then even the stones will cry out in witness to his vision, and the hills and towers will echo his words and deeds, and his example will live in the breasts of men forever. … So you look at him awhile, and be thankful—that the Lord let such a man touch our lives, even if it were only for a little while.”