Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Today I see the great value of reflecting on the man Martin Luther King, Jr. and the messages that he brought to us.  The following are some of my favorite quotes from him:

•  Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.
  
•  Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
  
• Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
  
• Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
  
• 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.
  
• In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
  
• Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
  
• It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.
  
• The time is always right to do what is right.
  
• We are not makers of history. We are made by history.
  
• At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.  

What baffles me is that in every generation, there seems to be people that rise to spread these words, yet we continue as a collective not to listen.  We choose to remain silent.  We choose to not stand up for what we believe in.  We choose to not vote for what we believe in. 

The minorities do indeed affect us since they are the ones that will stand up and speak out for what they believe in.  However, some of these minority groups are not ideals for the whole, yet they get the most media attention due to their constant squeaky wheels.  Do they speak for us? Why are we silent?  What if the majority were to finally stand up?  What if we as individuals decided to live out of love, not out of fear and greed.  What if we as a whole were to think of helping our fellow man instead of how much money or power we can obtain for ourselves?

I do feel this shift is coming.  It is slow, but the beginnings are clear to see.  We may disagree on how we can get there, but we as a collective people, I have hope that we can overcome bending to the "evils" of our human world and incorporate love and peace as core values instead. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream.  I have a dream too!

-SDF :O)