Sometimes, when you try too hard to do something special, you end up falling short. Lincoln's gave his Gettysburg Address immediately following a masterful speech by a great orator of the day. According to stories I've heard, that speech lasted for 2 hours. Lincoln's speech only lasted a few minutes but it captured the essense of the day. It's the one that everyone remembers. Even the previous speaker knew that he'd been outclassed.

MLK spoke from the heart and it shows. As a minister, he was a skilled speaker and knew how to reach an audience. Still, I believe his speech that day made such a strong impression because of his powerful imagery. Going back to our country's founding and through the aftermath of the Civil War, he laid out the legitimacy of his cause in terms that are almost impossible to deny. He called for courage and for non-violence, and this was at a time when non-violent civil rights protestors were being arrested, attacked by police dogs, sprayed by powerful fire hoses, and sometimes murdered. But, to me, his speaking as a loving father hoping for a better future for his children was perhaps the most powerful image from the speech. What father couldn't relate to that dream?

As for people being too jaded today, that may well be the case. We know that most of the great speeches today are written by teams of speechwriters instead of by the speaker. That alone is enough to inspire cynicism. Great oratory has been replaced by slick commercials, soundbites, and packaging. And, quite frankly, I wonder if our attention span has declined to the point where most people just don't want to sit still long enough to listen to a speech. Back in the 1980s, I remember hearing that the directors of "Miami Vice" did a scene change every 5-7 seconds in the hope of holding people's attention.

"God grant me patience...and I want it RIGHT NOW!"