Special Edition No. 8-5-2015-008
The Clarion Midnight Cry
In honor and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – 15 January 1929 to 4 April 1968
Midnight is considered to be the darkest hour of the night. It is that moment in time when the previous day slips quietly into the annals of history, and the pages of the volume are turned as the sun begins to rise and a new day dawns. With the dawning of a new day comes new hopes and aspirations in conjunction with new challenges to face, and new obstacles to overcome.
For some, midnight can also be considered a time of utter desolation and solitude in their lives. To them the world appears to be in a chaotic state of flux. It appears that the hands of time are forever standing still and it is forever midnight on many levels. Because of this, their vision is obscured, and they are unable to see the new day dawning just over the horizon. It is midnight.
For far too long many people have traveled down the rough and dusty highways of life with their heads hanging down, and their hearts heavy with the doubts and fears of there being any hope in the world.
For far too long some have listened intently to the voices of all the naysayers and ne’er-do-wells of the world who have not only tried, but in many cases have succeeded in thoroughly convincing them that they are just a bunch of worthless nobodies, going nowhere. They have convinced some that what might have once been is the way that things will always be. And so, feeling all alone, rejected, depressed, and defeated, some have chosen to live a life of seclusion and to slowly drown in a sea of deafening silence. It is midnight.
The hour has now come my friends when we must arise from the ashes of life, lift up our heads, and raise our voices to let the bearers of negativism know that they are nothing more than perpetual liars. Now is the hour to serve them notice that although they may think or believe that they represent the greater voice, they are indeed the minority whisper. Now is the hour to let them know that what might have once been, no longer has to be, nor will it be.
We need to pull ourselves up by the proverbial bootstraps and with clarion voices lift the rafters as we proclaim in jubilation, “Henceforth and no further!” Now is the time to rise up and send a very distinct, simple, and clear message to those who would otherwise try to keep us down and kick us around that we are not just a bunch of nobodies, going nowhere – we are children of Almighty God, and we are somebody going somewhere.
We are not in this world to live in servitude to any man, or to bow down to any man as if he were our king. It is time, and indeed the hour has come, when we need to lift our voices together, like the three Hebrew children who were thrown into the fiery furnace, and unashamed and unequivocally declare that we have but one True Master – one True Lord – one True King – and it is He and He alone whom we will bow down to and worship and none other.
Yes, my friends, it may seem to be midnight, but take heart and be of good courage, a new day is just in sight.
~ Keith Lionel Brown
18 January 2015
Of Common Sense 