The last few weeks, not to mention the last year, have brought with them crisis and difficulty. We have experienced violence, terror, and loss of life. All the better to take this moment and give thanks to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., born on a rainy January day in 1929. Through his life and his words he constantly reminded us not only of our manifest imperfections as a nation but also the ideals we must always strive for:
A community and a country whose institutions do not divide or discriminate;
Where we invest in one another and where we all have the opportunity to thrive;
Where we seek to better understand our history and to learn from it;
Where we plan for the future with a generosity of spirit; and
Where we work together, pray together, and struggle together with the understanding that when one of us isn’t free, none of us are.
These ideals form the promissory note that Dr. King spoke of in his most famous speech. It’s a check he came to the capital to cash in 1963. That his dream has not yet been entirely realized should not stop us from making it ours.