馬丁·路德·金夫人：劫后余生，只身前行

1968年4月4日，馬丁·路德·金遇刺身亡。葬禮上，瘦弱的科雷塔身披喪服摟著小女兒靜靜地坐在那里。從這一刻起，科雷塔的生活徹底被改變。她說:“我比以往任何時候都更加堅信我丈夫的夢想必將成為現實。” 沒有任何人給她絲毫壓力，她毅然決定，繼續丈夫未競的事業……2006年2月7日，16萬群眾冒著冬雨和嚴寒，為這位美國民權運動“第一夫人”生榮死哀的人生寫下了完滿的句號。

We’re here to honor a person.

Fifty-four years ago， her about-to-be husband said that he was looking for a woman with character， 1)intelligence， personality and beauty， and she sure fit the bill. And I have to say， when she was over 75， I thought she still fit the bill pretty good with all those categories.

But I think that’s important: this is a woman， as well as a symbol， as well as the2)embodiment of her husband’s 3)legacy and the developer of her own.

The second point I want to make is the most important day in her life for everyone of us here at this moment in this church except when she 4)embraced her faith， the next most important day was April 5， 1968， the day after her husband was killed. She had to decide， “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?”

We would have all forgiven her， even honored her if she said， “I have 5)stumbled on enough stony roads. I have been beaten by enough bitter rods. I have 6)endured enough dangers， toils and 7)snares. I’m going home and raising my kids. I wish you all well.” None of us， nobody could have 8)condemned that decision. But she went to 9)Memphis—the scene of the worst nightmare of her life—and led that march for those poor hard-working garbage workers that her husband...

Now， that’s the most important thing for us. ’Cause what really matters if you believe all this stuff we’ve been saying is， what we’re going to do with the rest of our lives.

So what will happen to the legacy of Martin Luther King and Coretta King? Will it continue to stand for peace and nonviolence and anti-poverty and civil rights and human rights?

The one thing I always admired about Dr. King and about Coretta when I got to know her， especially， is how they embraced causes that were almost surely lost right alongside causes that they knew if they worked at hard enough， they could actually win. They understood that the difficulty of success does not relieve one of the 10)obligation to try. So all of us have to remember that.

What are we going to do with the rest of our lives? You want to treat our friend Coretta like a role model? Then model her behavior.

This is the first day of the rest of our lives.

Everybody who believes that 11)the Promise of America is for every American， everybody who believes that all people in the world are caught up in what he so 12)eloquently called the inescapable web of 13)mutuality， everyone of us in a way are all the children of Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King. And I for one am grateful for her life and her friendship.

Thank you.

我們在此向一個人致敬。

五十四年前，她的未婚夫說，他在尋找一位才貌兼備、品行卓越的女性為伴，很顯然，她符合了所有的條件。我要說的是，即使她過了75歲的高齡，我仍然認為她是符合所有條件的不二人選。

但我認為重要的是:這是一位女士，也是一個象征，她繼承了先夫的遺志，同時也延展了她自己的人生。

其次，我想要說的是，此刻對我們所有身在這所教堂中的人來說，她人生中最重要的日子——除了她找到她那份信仰的時候——就是1968年4月5日，她丈夫遇害后的那一天。她必須要作出決定:“我要如何度過余生?”

如果她當時說:“在這崎嶇的路上我已經經歷過太多的坎坷，受過太多的苦，承受了太多的艱難險境了。我要回家，養育我的孩兒。但愿你們一切安好。”我們會諒解她的，甚至仍會尊敬她。沒有人會去譴責這樣的決定。但是，她去了孟菲斯——她生命中最可怕的夢魘所發生的地方——走在窮苦垃圾收集工人游行隊伍的最前面，繼承她的丈夫……

如今，對于我們來說，那才是最重要的。因為，如果你相信我們一直所說的，那么，最重要的是我們要如何度過自己的余生。