Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 Today was a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Every year I have posted about Dr. King on social media highlighting his fight for equality.  His dedication to this cause was awe inspiring to me and his desire to make the world a better place should be a goal that all of "God's creatures" should aspire to reach.  

This year I decided not to post about equality.  There were so many posts from individuals that I know last year never even paid attention to the holiday.  The long winded reminders to fight for freedom for all races lacked substance and seemed to be taken from a meme on Instagram.  This wasn't the first time during the pandemic that I had noticed the "better than thou" posts flooding social media, but they just felt too cliched this year.  

I thought about posting nothing, but as a history major Dr. King had always been one of the Americans that I admired most.  It wasn't just about his fight for equality, but the fact that he actually did something about it.  His "dream" wasn't just a speech, it was a way of life for him. Therefore, I decided to take time and read his quotes on topics other than equality, like love, religion, science, and peace.  I found two that I thought were perfect for today.  As I made my post I hoped that liberals would take heed of the first one and conservatives would take the second to heart.  I knew that probably wouldn't happen, but just reading the words out loud made feel there was hope for a better American than what I see today.

“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him."

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

Thankful for the memory of Dr. Martin King, Jr. and his wisdom that rings true to this day. No monument could ever be erected big enough to honor the life he gave in his quest for peace.