MLK
Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Before you read any further, try to find a quiet place to yourself. Then continuing reading on.
Imagine that you're heading out to the lake. You've gone fishing 100 times before and you've never caught a fish. But today feels different. You step out of the car and close the door behind you with a satisfying click. You go around to the back of the car and open the trunk and pull out your fishing rod and 6-pack of Coke bottles and you begin walking toward your favorite fishing spot, hearing the gravel crunch with each step beneath your feet.
You've gone fishing 100 times before and you've never caught a fish. But today feels different. You take a seat at the fishing bench used by your father and your father’s father and lay down the fishing rod and Coke bottles at your sides. As you lean back onto the bench, you feel the warmth of the sun on the back of your neck, like the tender touch of your mother or father. You linger in the moment and let the sun warm you all over.
You've gone fishing 100 times before and you've never caught a fish. But today feels different. You pick up the fishing rod but it feels lighter--it’s as light as a feather and sits perfectly balanced in your hand. It’s an incredible feeling that you’ve simply never felt before. Slowly, you set the fishing rod down. You then go to pick up a bottle of Coke from the 6-pack, but as you pull it out, it doesn't clink against any of the other bottles. That’s never happened before. As you pull off the cap to take a sip, you let the sweetness and carbonation sit for just a moment in your mouth before swallowing. You pause, you relish in the moment. Then you take another sip, savor this moment, and place the bottle back into the 6-pack. Once again, as you put the bottle away, the bottle doesn't clink against any of the other bottles. That’s never happened before either.
You've gone fishing 100 times before and you've never caught a fish. But today feels different. Seated at the bench used by your father and your father’s father as the warmth of the sun shines down on you like the tender touch of your mother or father, you stand up, pick up the fishing rod, and head out to the edge of the water. Except for a few bubbles here and there, the water is perfectly still. Your surroundings are serene. With the fishing rod in your hands, you cast the line out toward the water. It’s a perfect cast and generates the smallest of waves out on the lake. You've never cast the line like this before.
Slowly you reel the line back in, realizing that whether or not you catch a fish today, it doesn't matter. The process, the journey, is what matters. You drive to the lake, you get out of the car, you get the fishing rod and bottles from the trunk, you walk toward your favorite fishing spot, you take a seat at the fishing bench used by your father and your father’s father as the warmth of the sun shines down on you like the tender touch of your mother or father, you take a sip from a bottle of Coke, you stand up, you reach for the rod, you observe the beauty of your surroundings, you cast, and you reel. In this moment, you do not know what the future holds. But that does not matter. It’s the process, the journey, that you're now on and you've taken many times before, knowing that it’s not necessarily the destination but the direction in which you head that matters most.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would sometimes walk through a similar exercise with fellow protesters before engaging in the pursuit of civil rights through civil disobedience. This exercise directed their focus away from the fire hoses and plastic bullets and horrible threats they received and directed their focus instead toward the peaceful process of standing up or sitting down for what they believed in.
This exercise reminds us the past is not necessarily the present, nor the future.
Still today, some fail to recognize that we are all equal, that we each possess certain unalienable rights. While we have made progress, there remains work to be done.
Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929. If he was still alive, he would be 87 years old. Though he may not be us with today, his legacy continues to live on, encouraging each of us to dream of not just a nation, but a world, in which we could live where we would not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character.
In my life, Dr. King is a reminder that each of us has the capacity to realize positive change in the world around us. Despite his great work, he was no more or less human than you or me. Though it is not easy, I try to love my friends and foes just the same and hope to encourage others to practice inclusion and fairness in every interaction we share. Looking down the road, I recognize the moral obligation to continue giving back, especially after college.
So, what’s next for you? For me? For us?
We must dream. We must act. AND we must do so today. If not for you and me, for our children and our children's children.
Now is the time. Now is our time.