Martin Luther King, Jr. - A Man of Wisdom

Do I remember where I was when John Kennedy was assassinated? Yes, I do. I was a cadet at West Point, and I marched in his funeral in Washington, DC. When Bobby and Martin were assassinated, I was a lieutenant serving in Germany as a Hawk missile battery commander. The following year, I began my tour in Vietnam. Those were troubled times.

Yesterday, I was in Austin at the University of Texas basketball arena watching the Longhorns come from behind to beat Texas A&M. The arena is on Martin Luther King Boulevard. I'm not sure if I've ever been in a city that didn't have a street named after him.

Martin Luther King is a hero of mine, and a hero to many. He's remembered for all kinds of reasons. I remember him mostly for the things he said...

CHARACTER - "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

COMPASSION - “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”

COURAGE - "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people."

EXCELLENCE -  “If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven wrote poetry.”

FAIRNESS - “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

FAITH - “Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” 

FORGIVENESS - “The old law about ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind.”

GENEROSITY - “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

LOYALTY - “In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

OPTIMISM - “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” 

SERVICE - “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. has taught me a lot about personal strength.