I can remember vividly, the first time I heard the voice of Martin Luther King Jr ... It came on Sunday morning in the basement of Centennial United Church in Stratford. Our minister at the time, Rev. Ross Cumming wanted to expose his early morning class of 12-16 year olds to the teachings and preaching style of Dr King.
Ross hauled out an old LP from the CBC Massey Lectures that had Dr King's Christmas Sermon on Peace delivered in 1967 at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta ...
As the turn table started and the needle touched the vinyl, I was hooked ... King's voice warbled on the speaker, but the message was life altering ... I borrowed the record later and recorded it on a cassette, and THEN listened to it over and over and over. I even sat down and transcribed King's words to paper and tucked them away.
In time, I found numerous articles, books and references to King. In University I even took a series of of courses on Gandhi, Peace and Non-Violence to learn more about the teachings of this incredible man.
Even today, King's teachings have so saturated my soul that references to him in my own writings and preaching are legion ... He is also one of those I turn to when I need to feed my soul ...
Today as we mark his birthday, perhaps we would do well to reflect on his message and do more to live out those words ... It wouldn't do any harm ...
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