Beautiful People Do Not Just Happen

For those of you who were blessed to experience August 28, 1963 in our nation’s history, I am sure you are sitting here today wondering how that could have possibly been 50 years ago. ‘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 girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sister and brothers. I have a dream today.’ Martin Luther King Jr. was a beautiful soul. A man of such character, passion, and enthusiasm to change the dichotomy with which our nation resided. It is sad to me that after 50 we still face division in parts of our country. I challenge all of us to think deeply about the words that were spoken 50 years ago today and focus closely on words which this nation itself was founded on ‘that all men are created equal’. I will close with a quote I saw today, which seemed quite fitting…… ‘The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen’. Martin Luther King was in fact a magnificently beautiful person.