When Martin Luther King, Jr. died on April 4th 1968, I was three years from being born.  As a white girl, living in a predominantly white neighborhood, I would only be scarcely aware of his existence until I bought my favorite U2 album The Unforgettable Fire in 1984.  Despite this pathetic history, he is ever present in my life now, providing me with a shining example of goodness, bravery, intelligence, and wisdom. 

There is rarely a day that passes that I do not think of him and find inspiration in his deeds and words.  Through them I find my own strength and courage.  Here are just a few: 

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined non-conformists who are dedicated to justice, peace, and brotherhood.”

“On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’  Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’  And Vanity comes along and asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’  But Conscience asks the question ‘Is it right?’  And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.”

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“The strong man holds in a living blend strongly marked opposites. The idealists are usually not realistic, and the realists are not usually idealistic. The militant are not generally known to be passive, nor the passive to be militant. Seldom are the humble self-assertive, or the self-assertive humble. But life at its best is a creative synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmony. The philosopher Hegel said that truth is found neither in the thesis nor the antithesis, but in the emergent synthesis which reconciles the two.”

This is me now, sending a little prayer out for peace and happiness to all.  Infinite blessings upon your path…