I am loving the flow of Martin Luther King Jr.'s words. It's so poetic; each word sounds like he chose it carefully, judging its meaning and impact on the readers. I can't believe the version we read nowadays (if you haven't, read it here) is nearly the same as his very first draft of it, which apparently he wrote on various pieces of paper that were smuggled into his jail cell. He started writing it on the margins of a newspaper, because he read another letter/statement that members of the clergy wrote published in the newspaper. He wrote this letter as a response to that one.(With me, if I wrote something like this on the first go, I'd cry.)
It is an incredibly long letter, and takes me about half an hour or more to read it all the way through. I've only read it twice, but this time I discovered little treasures of phrases that I missed the first time around. It makes me want to cry at times, and cheer at others. He must have been a fantastic speaker. Unlike me. I am terrified of public speaking. I've been trying to overcome that fear, but it's hard. At one point I felt alright about speeches, but during the summer I lost what little confidence I had gained over the year.
Anyhoo, back to the letter.
I try and read each paragraph as carefully as I think he penned it; there is so much meaning in there, and so much passion behind it. And when I think about it, everything he says is very true. His words make it seem as though he is opening up his heart for the reader to see, without any sort of embarrassment or anything.
It's really a beautiful piece of writing, and makes me really want to have met him. He would have been great fun to talk to, I bet...
pics from:
http://www.sites.si.edu/images/exhibits/381/new/images/king_arrest_jpg.jpg
http://justanapprentice.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/birmingham-jail.jpg
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