Last Words that Last

Photo by Thomas Konings on Unsplash

Photo by J. Amill Santiago on Unsplash

I used to play a game called "Last Words" with the boys in my cabin to get them to quiet down at night and go to sleep.

I went around the room and asked each for last words.

When they were all finished, they were promised a story in my most hypnotic voice.

It worked.

I have preached a number of last sermons before departing a congregation or a retreat.

You always want to make them count.

Some words truly count and keep on counting.

Martin Luther King, Jr. could not have known that he would be assassinated on April 4 when he made his last, stirring speech, really a sermon, the night before.

On that night, in 1968, he delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech; He was assassinated the next day.

It was prophetic and triumphant.

I have listened to this speech many times. It is so powerful and full of content that it is relevant to this day.

I will listen again and again as long as I live.