Dr. King’s “A Knock At Midnight”
My favorite guided spiritual meditation
Many nights, I listen to guided meditations to fall asleep. It is how I am wired. A soft voice to put me in the present and to focus on nothing at all but the immediate. It is how to live.
No worries about tomorrow, yesterday, or some bill to pay. No concern for work to do, or work I didn’t do. Be present. Mindfulness.
Dr. King’s speech “A Knock at Midnight” also works for me. I am not sure why it works but it does. And many times now, before I drift off to sleep, I cut on the speech and hear Dr. King’s voice softly boom with — “A knock at midnight…”
It never fails to relax my mind, help me re-focus, and push me forward in the present moment.
It is a sermon, based on a passage in the Book of St. Luke, where a traveler comes at midnight for bread and does not receive their needs from the person who answers. But the traveler keeps knocking because the traveler knows that there is the bread and he will receive bread if he keeps knocking. It is a universal message.
Dr. King’s rhythmic and soulful voice hums and vibrates throughout the speech and though it initially sounds not so hopeful, it is a meditation on keeping the faith, maintaining the struggle, and pushing forward. As days end, and the weariness of each day weighs on us, “A Knock at Midnight” is the ultimate sermon about the long game of life and the struggle for equal justice and the greater good.
I hope you will take a listen to the sermon and relax and embrace the hope.
Text of “A Knock at Midnight”
A Knock at Midnight (video link)
Resources
Mindful Everyday Mindfulness Mindfulness Meditation L.A. Justice Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) Egberto Willies Kelsey Ogbewe Medium Momentum Blog Team Dr. Mary Marshall Toni Crowe Black Enterprise ESSENCE Debates Marlon Weems Savannah Worley Allison Gaines KSHernandez Nada Chehade Arturo Dominguez
