Feel like giving up? Some words from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

[AnnitaR]

(From the Acceptance Speech, The Nobel Peace Prize, 1964)

“I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept the idea that the ‘isness’ of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal ‘oughtness’ that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding of events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.”

“I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of a thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final world in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger that evil triumphant.”


I posted this in the "My name is" thread but I wanted everyone to be sure to read these words from Dr. King.

I almost gave up.

I am a 34 year old white woman from East Tennessee. My county voted 122,000 to 8,600 for Bush.

I was in shock Tuesday night. I didn't cry and I didn't believe what I was seeing. I kept thinking this was just a big mistake and it would be fine by the next day.

I woke up that morning and was furious. This didn't happen.

I watched Kerry concede and I still didn't cry, I was still in shock. I watched Kerry's speech the second time later that night and cried giant heaving sobs. It was then that I almost gave up.

I said I could not put myself through this EVER again. I just couldn't care this much ever again. It was just too painful and we didn't matter anyway. I didn't and wouldn't make a difference. What was the point? Why fight anymore? We don't matter and I just couldn't find the faith and courage to do it anymore.

I felt that way until tonight at work.

I began to think about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

What if he had given up? What if he quit fighting the first time they tried to shut him up? Where would this country be today? He didn't quit fighting when they threw that bomb on his porch. He didn't quit fighting until they took the last breath from his body.

They won't shut me up either! They won't take my faith and they won't take my country!

[Maple]

1. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

[freetobegay]

2. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's soul still marches on today.

[Lilli]

3. I'm also in East Tennessee

and we are seriously outnumbered. For now. :)
Thanks for the MLK quotes. They help.

[freetobegay]

4. I miss East Tennessee!

:-(

[Lilli]

6. I'm spitting distance from the Smokys

and thats what keeps us here. I LOVE the national park.

[freetobegay]

8. I was born & raised in Middlesboro KY.

We spent the summers on Norris lake & in the Smokies. I also went to UT

[Lilli]

10. There is a lot to love in this area

except for the traffic :)
I havent been to Kentucky yet. Its definitely on the to-do list.

[The Traveler]

5. We really needed to be reminded

of those fundamental, healing, and liberating truths.

Oddly, I am reminded of Ambrose Redmoon's most famous quote: "Courage is merely the realization that something else is more important than your fear."

Again, thanks.

[Lilli]

7. Thats wonderful! Thanks.

Never heard that before.

[sir_captain]

9. a beautiful speech

Unlike today, the tumultuous period of the 1960s produced some of the most beautiful oratory ever spoken in the English language. Thank you Dr. King.

[AnnitaR]

11. One more from Dr. King that rings true now:

"I must confess that I have enjoyed being on this mountaintop and I am tempted to want to stay here and retreat to a more quiet and serene life. But something within reminds me that the valley calls me in spite of all its agonies, dangers, and frustrating moments. I must return to the valley. Something tells me that the ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy."

--Martin Luther King, Jr., 27th January 1965