39 Years
Recently the Holy Father has cited Martin Luther King, the apostle of nonviolence, as one of the Martyrs of the 20th century. Here is a timely reflection on his life. (Ed)
From 1929 to 1968 is only 39 short years.
Too short to gather the fruits of your labor.
Too short to comfort your parents when your brother drowns.
Too short to comfort your father when mother dies.
Too short to see your children finish school.
Too short to ever enjoy grandchildren.
Too short to know retirement.
Thirty-nine years is just too short.
From 1929 to 1968 is only 39 short years,
yet it's too long to be crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.
Too long to stand in the quicksand of racial injustices.
Too long to receive threatening phone calls, often at the rate of forty per day.
Too long to live under the sweltering heat of continuous pressure.
Too long, 39 years is just too long.
From 1929 to 1968 is 39 short years, it's long enough.
It's long enough to journey all the way to India
to learn under a great teacher how to walk
through angry crowds and keep cool.
It's long enough to be chased by police dogs and lashed
by the rushing waters from the fireman's hoses because
you are dramatizing the fact that justice has a way of
eluding me and my brother.
It's long enough to spend many days in jail
while protesting the plight of others.
It's long enough to have a bomb thrown into your home.
It's long enough to teach angry violent men to be still
while you pray for the bombers.
It's long enough to lead many men to Christianity.
It's long enough to know that more appalling than bigotry
and hatred are those who sit still and watch injustices
each day in silence.
It's long enough to realize that injustices are undiscriminating
and people of all races and creeds experience its cruel
captivity sooner or later. It's long enough.
It's long enough to know that when one uses civil disobedience
for his civil rights, he does not break the laws of the Constitution
of the United States of America -- rather he seeks to uphold the principle
that all men are created equal;
he seeks to break down local ordinances that have
already broken the laws of the Constitution of the United States of America.
It's long enough to accept invitations
to speak to the nation's leaders.
It's long enough to address thousands of people on hundreds of different occasions.
It's long enough to lead 200,000 people to the nation's capital
to dramatize that all of America's people are heirs to the property of rights to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
It's long enough to enter college at 15.It's long enough to finish an earn several degrees.
It's long enough to earn hundreds of awards.
It's long enough to marry and father four children.
It's long enough to become a drum major for peace.
It's long enough to earn a Nobel Peace Prize.
It's long enough to give the $54,000 prize money to the cause of justice.
It's long enough to visit the mountaintop.
It's certainly long enough to have a dream.