The dawning of a KING'S dream -- addendum

By Clenard Childress

In 2003, I wrote this essay to convey the prophetical insight of Dr. Martin Luther King's two most memorable speeches: "I Have A Dream" and "I've Been To The Mountain Top." I would like to revisit a couple of portions with you from that essay, and would that you would read it in its entirety, if you have not already.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights such is life liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

This passage of our Declaration of Independence is quoted by Dr. Martin Luther King in his prophetic speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The title, as many as you well know is, "I have a Dream." To make it palatable to the masses God had King say, "I have a dream." But I believe he could have just as easily said, "I've seen a vision." The Civil Rights Movement was just that, a "Movement." God was intervening in the affairs of men to undo injustices and deliver the oppressed. Jim Crow Laws and Segregation were glaring proofs of America's hypocrisy, for all men were not viewed as equal; all men were not given equal access to the American dream; African-Americans were denied the American Dream, most privileges were revoked, and their communities terrorized in order to ensure their continued demeaning existence as second class citizens.

A movement, from the Spirit of the Living God, was necessary to bring in a new order and consciousness which would dismantle oppressive regimes and break the chains of injustice. The protesting church would again be the catalyst for change, a church that would obey the commands of the Savior to confront the culture and make their presence known in the Public Square. This Church was not drunk with wine, as many supposed, but was filled with the Spirit, for "They were too God-intoxicated to be astronomically intimidated."

Martin's earth-moving sermon delivered on that memorable occasion spoke of an America which would someday live out its creed; an America that had repudiated its past; an America that had crossed over into land where our laws reflected, for the first time in our history, its Declaration of Independence. The Creator-given-rights were not circumvented by government, but government protected. In this land, at the time of creation of a human being by their Creator, that creation is given the right to life, liberty, and every chance to pursue happiness despite any unfavorable conditions. For anyone to say that Martin Luther King would approve a practice stripping the created of their God given rights of the Creator, is absolutely preposterous.

Some may still be asking when he actually saw the land he proclaimed in August of 1963. The answer was given on April 3rd, 1968 – the night before he was assassinated. Martin, having planned to rest that evening due to weariness from his relentless pace, was summoned to address the growing crowd of supporters which had gathered that evening at the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tennessee. And like Jesus the night he was betrayed (there was a Judas in Martin's inner circle also) after giving the Upper Room Discourses on Passover night, when He told the Disciples He had prepared a place for them and would be sending them the Comforter – the Holy Spirit – it was there Martin told the congregation he had been to the mountaintop and he had seen the Promise Land. Yes, and to give clarity to his prophetic message, he metaphorically spoke, juxtaposing Moses' departing experience with his own, coupled with the intimacy of Jesus in the Upper Room. He, like Moses, was told by God, it would not be long before he would be making his heavenly transition. Martin, like Moses, would see the place but never physically dwell in the land he was laboring to get to with his people, and so, Martin prophesied to his people saying,

"...Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me 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!"

Well, I would like to announce that we must be close to the dream and the embers could be turning into raging flames soon. Why? The visionary said in 1963 this prophetic description of that land that is manifesting before our very eyes:

"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."

Soon, Mississippi will be the only State in the Union which will not have an Abortion clinic. Yes, Mississippi will be the only "oasis of truth" in the midst of the wilderness land of Abortion. Like the children of Israel it took 40 years of wandering before they made their first conquest. The walls are beginning to come down. In the state where once African-Americans could not vote, this state will be the Beacon of Hope and message of life, to African-Americans in particular. 52% of all African-American pregnancies end in Abortion – 1,786 a day... Spelled out, that's One-Thousand-Seven-Hundred-Eighty-Six African-American children a day! In the City of New York, 60% of African-American pregnancies end with the death of the child by Abortion. This is Black Genocide, no question about it.

The dawning of the King's Dream in Mississippi will result in making it the only state whose laws live out our creed; the only state respecting the Creator's design for every person's individual right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As Dr. King said, he would not get there with us but one day we will get to the Promised Land. May the Jubilee bells ring!

© Clenard Childress