At the conclusion of the Civil Rights march to Selma, everyone was scarred and weary. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke to the crowd on keeping hope in God’s plan:
I know that you are asking today,
“How long will it take?”
I come to say to you this afternoon,
however difficult the moment,
however frustrating the hour,
It will not be long,
because truth pressed to earth will rise again.
How long?
Not long, because no lie can live forever.
How long?
Not long, because you still reap what you sow.
How long?
Not long, because the arm of the moral universe is long
but it bends toward justice.
How long?
Not long, ’cause mine eyes have seen the glory of the
coming of the Lord,
Trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath
are stored.
He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible
swift sword.
His truth is marching on.