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Experienced preachers behind him felt fleeting anxiety that King might miss his landing, because he was in full passion on a peroration unsuited to close. The "sneeze" run always came earlier in his speeches, being informal and thin. King sputtered at the podium, then slipped a gear. "And they were telling me--now it doesn't matter now," he said. "It really doesn't matter. I left Atlanta this morning ..." He told briskly of the bomb scare on his plane and how the pilot had announced that threats to King had generated a precautionary overnight guard for the aircraft. "And then I got into Memphis." He frowned. "And some began to say the threats--or talk about the threats--that were out, what would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers. Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now."
King paused. "Because I've been to the mountaintop," he declared in a trembling voice. Cheers and applause erupted. Some people jerked involuntarily to their feet, and others rose slowly like a choir. "And I don't mind," he said, trailing off beneath the second and third waves of response. "Like anybody I would like to live--a long life--longevity has its place." The whole building suddenly hushed, which let sounds of thunder and rain fall from the roof. "But I'm not concerned about that now," said King. "I just want to do God's will." There was a subdued call of "Yes!" in the crowd. "And he's allowed me to go up the mountain," King cried, building intensity. "And I've looked over. And I have s-e-e-e-e-e-n, the promised land." His voice searched a long peak over the word "seen," then hesitated and landed with quick relief on "the promised land," as though discovering a friend. He stared out over the microphones with brimming eyes and the trace of a smile. "And I may not get there with you," he shouted, "but I want you to know, tonight ["Yes!"] that we as a people will get to the promised land!" He stared again over the claps and cries, while the preachers closed toward him from behind. "So I'm happy tonight!" rushed King. "I'm not worried about anything! I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!" He broke off the quotation and stumbled sideways into a hug from Abernathy. The preachers helped him to a chair, some crying, and tumult washed through the Mason Temple.
On April 4, as hearings were held to determine whether SCLC could participate in the upcoming march, King and several other SCLC leaders waited at the Lorraine Motel for the decision