Up to the Mountain..

Tonight I had the opportunity to hear three powerful men speak. Our church held a night of remembrance for the 40th anniversary of the April 4, 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.



Dr. King's last and possibly most prophetic sermon was delivered on the eve before his assassination in Memphis at the Sanitation worker's strike, "We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop... And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you.. I am not fearing any man."

He was exhausted on the night of this speech, yet continued to stand by his princiiple of "The time always being right to do what is right.

His last speech was less than 2 minutes long.



The speakers were:

Charles F. McDew who was a founding member and chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) int he 1960s. He continues to be involved in programs for social and political change designed to develop local leadership and break down racial and cultural barriers.

Dr. Harry C Boyte worked for Dr. King as a field secretary with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the 1960s. He is a Senior fellow and Founder of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the Hubert Humphrey Institute, concerned with community development, citizenship education, and civic renewal.


S.T. Jamison whom I attend church with grew up in the South before and during the civil rights movement in Oxford, MS.

It truly was an amazing evening being in the presence of these men who helped shape history...


One of my favorite musicians, Patty Griffin wrote a song titled "Up to the Mountain" in honor of Dr. MLK Jr.

I went up to the mountain
Because you asked me to
Up over the clouds
To where the sky was blue
I could see all around me
Everywhere
I could see all around me
Everywhere

Sometimes I feel like
I've never been nothing but tired
And I'll be walking
Till the day I expire
Sometimes I lay down
No more can I do
But then I go on again
Because you ask me to

Some days I look down
Afraid I will fall
And though the sun shines
I see nothing at all
Then I hear your sweet voice, oh
Oh, come and then go, come and then go
Telling me softly
You love me so