No Longer Obscured by Clouds
20 January 2009—I woke up this morning to see the peak and rugged outline of the Mt Kenya staring at me from nearly 100 miles away. I’ve been living in Kenya for over a year and visiting here regularly since 2001 and I’ve never seen the mountain so clearly as I see it today.
To quote Dr King, nearly 80 years after his birth, “Something is happening in our world.” There’s no doubt about that. Something is happening in Washington. Something is happening in Kenya. Something is happening all over America. The world is forever changed.
This day will go down in the annals of history as a day that many walls were broken. The day America finally achieved its dream. It is no longer deferred.
The mountain has shown itself today. It’s no longer obscured by clouds.
In his last speech in Memphis the day before his death, Dr. King said:
“Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like any man, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
On that day in 1968, MLK asked America to “be true to what it said on paper.” Today, we have reason to believe that this centuries-long, epic, violent struggle to make America hold true to the its principles of justice, equality, and freedom was worth it. There is a new found hope in the future of our country and the world at large.
Here's a link to the video of the MLK speech referred to in the post: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm
