On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot to death in Memphis, TN. We do not celebrate his death today, but rather his life. What a life it was! What would the world be like if he had not stepped out on the motel balcony that day? Forty years later, his words still move me.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Have a Dream

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

Love

I still believe that LOVE is the most durable power in the world.
Over the centuries men have sought to discover the highest good.

This has been the chief quest of ethical philosophy.
This was one of the big questions of Greek philosophy.
The Epicurean and the Stoics sought to answer it;
Plato and Aristotle sought to answer it.

What is the summon bonum of life?
I think I have an answer America.
I think I have discovered the highest good.
It is LOVE.

This principle stands at the center of the cosmos.
As John says, “God is love.”
He who loves is a participant in the being of God.
He who hates does not know God.

 

From Paul’s Letter to American Christians
written by Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute

 

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday