let freedom ring

Thomas Jefferson wrote 'we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal'. today is the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jnr. like many people, I find him inspiring. I have a book of a number of his speeches and sermons. it would have been thrilling to be at the Lincoln Memorial when he gave his "I Have A Dream" speech. it is filled with biblical references: "we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream" (Amos 5:24). the full text can be found here . my favourite of his speeches though is the one he gave the night before his assassination. there had already been many threats on his life, and the speech he gave was almost prophetic: "well I don't know what will happen now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, 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 so I am 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!" if you ever get to see the footage of this speech, he falls into his seat at the end of the speech, mentally exhausted from pressures during the days before. the speech can be heard here
it's no secret that I have always believed Christians especially should speak out against injustice in the world. I worked (voluntarily) for a number of years with Amnesty International and was privileged to be sent to Amsterdam to speak about the Australian branches work in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. I have a t-shirt from those days that quotes MLK, saying: "our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."