The speeches are here:

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/1/21/dr_martin_luther_king_jr_1929

In the first speech King speaks out against the Viet Nam war. It was at the end of the second speech that I was struck by a very moving testament to experiencing God. Of course you can just listen to the whole thing, OR

...begin at 29:20 to hear the second speech, the “Mountaintop” speech, OR

...begin at the beginning of the awesome conclusion, just after 44:00, OR

...if you have only a few minutes, start at 56:00, OR

...if you want my recap, just read this. If you want to listen for yourself stop reading. The conclusion has an awesome recounting of the parable of the good Samaritan, followed by a related and powerful story from King’s own life. Then, eerily, King talks about dying. But he says it doesn’t matter now, if he lives or dies, he just wants to do God’s will. Longevity would be nice, but he says he has been to the mountaintop with God. I take it to mean King has had God working in his life powerfully for quite some time. He raises his voice triumphantly, exclaiming that he isn’t worried about anything, and fears no man.

This is incredible stuff. The day before dying he says he is OK with dying, it doesn’t matter to him. Why? Because he has experienced God. He has done God’s will. He has helped in God’s work. And it’s pretty powerful to hear him speak not of doubts and worries, but rather give a sense of the feeling of total peace, freedom, and confidence that he felt because he experienced God in his life.

I just thought it was very relevant to our study, and wanted to share.