AT TIMES, HISTORY AND FATE MEET AT A SINGLE TIME IN A SINGLE PLACE TO SHAPE A TURNING POINT IN MAN’S UNENDING SEARCH FOR FREEDOM. SO IT WAS AT LEXINGTON AND CONCORD. SO IT WAS A CENTURY AGO AT APPOMATTOX. SO IT WAS LAST WEEK IN SELMA, ALABAMA.

Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind

“The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies,” continuing on to voice Lincoln’s prayer “to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union.” Even the smallest of

Almost a century and a half ago, Senator Stephen Douglas told Abraham Lincoln, who had just defeated him for the presidency, “Partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. I’m with you, Mr. President, and God bless you.”

What comfort such daily regimens bestow upon a long marriage.

“an unrepentant idealist and an unrelenting patriot”—or,

“Sometimes, symbolic gestures are the language of political actions.”

A speech in the right place and at the right time, in this instance beginning with the reflecting mirrors of American and South African histories, had resulted in an explosive demonstration that words, like individuals, can make a difference. Words are flammable.

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance….