AMERICAN HERO KING: IS STILL HAVE A DREAM

Martin Luther King, Jr., was not a perfect man. But then, who is?

Martin Luther King, Jr., was, however, a man of profound perspective and tremendous leadership. A champion of hope and faith. A man of compassion, of justice, of inspiration -- and of God.

I picked up a copy of "The Trumpet of Conscience" last week to refresh myself about King's beliefs. It is a collection of some of his last speeches.

I chose the book because through history courses I was familiar with the King who was in Montgomery and Birmingham, who marched on Washington, and who was in Selma. What I didn't know was who was this heroic leader during the turmoil and violence of the later 60s?

"The Trumpet of Conscience" is a powerful book. And, it is insightful. With the clarity and eloquence that few scholars possess, King analyzes the America of the late 50s and early 60s. He describes the divisions within society during the beginning of the Vietnam War. It is a brilliant, honest assessment.

It is also, for the most part, a gloomy assessment, which groans under the pain of witnessing a black America much in flames. At the end of 1967, when the last speech in this collection was delivered, the United States' involvement in Vietnam was in high gear, with African Americans carrying a heavy part of the American burden. While within the nation, race riots and violent confrontation were wide spread, none worse than within the black urban neighborhoods of Watts, Calif, and Chicago, Ill.

King's words in "The Trumpet of Conscience" betray a worry that his call for non-violence was no longer being heeded by the bulk of men and women -- both black and white -- who desired change. Seduced by the false temptation that violence is a quicker route to justice and equality, (and confused by the war in Asia) these young men and women dismissed King's teachings. The result was burnt buildings, broken bones and spilt blood.

King struggled to regain these people's attention. "We will never have peace in the world," King said on Christmas Day 1967, "until men everywhere recognize that ends are not cut off from means, because means represent the ideal in the making...ultimately you can't reach good ends through evil means."

If this argument were not enough, King deferred to the greatest power possible.

"Man is more than a tiny vagary of whirling electrons or a wisp of smoke from a limitless smoldering," he said. "Man is a child of God, made in His image, and therefore must be respected as such. Until men see this everywhere, until nations see this everywhere, we will be fighting wars."

I cannot imagine King's last months were happy. Yet he himself said they were. In a speech at Clayborn Temple in Memphis the evening before his death, he spoke, "I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go to the mountains. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land...So I'm happy tonight."

It is this that is amazing about King -- and truly uplifting. Even in the darkness of the race riots and the Vietnam War, he maintained a broader perspective about mankind, thanks to his faith in God

It should not be surprising, then, that he ended "The Trumpet of Conscience" with a hopeful look back at his most famous speech.

"In 1963, on a sweltering August afternoon, we stood in Washington D.C., and talked to the nation about many things. Toward the end of that afternoon, I tried to talk to the nation about a dream that I had had, and I must confess to you today that not long after talking about that dream I started seeing it turn into a nightmare...

"Yes, I am personally the victim of deferred dreams, of blasted hopes, but in spite of that I close today by saying I still have a dream, because, you know, you can't give up in life. If you lose hope, somehow you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you to go on in spite of all. And so today I still have a dream.

"I have a dream that one day men will rise up and come to see that they are made to live together as brothers.

"I still have a dream this morning that one day every Negro in this country, every colored person in the world, will be judged on the basis of the content of his character rather than the color of his skin, and every man will respect the dignity and worth of human personality...

"I still have a dream today that one day justice will roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

"I still have a dream today that in all of our state houses and city halls men will be elected to go there who will do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with their God.

"I still have a dream today that one day war will come to an end, that men will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, that nations will no longer rise up against nations...

"I still have a dream today that one day the lamb and the lion will lie down together and every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid.

"I still have a dream today that one day every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill will be made low, the rough places will be made smooth and the crooked places straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

"I still have a dream that with this faith we will be able to adjourn the councils of despair and bring new light into the dark chambers of pessimism. With this faith we will be able to speed up the day when there will be peace on earth and goodwill toward men. It will be a glorious day, the morning stars will sing together, and the sons of God will shout for joy."

Amen!