It's like living in a Sherlock Holmes story, not the modern bromance kind, the sodden, creepy, frigid kind. Today was our fourth straight with this atmospheric phenomenon. I have to say, though, I like it for running. The air isn't so cold that it freezes out all the moisture, and the damp air is easier for me to breathe. If we could get a good dose of this on July 17th, I'd be a happy little hombre. Enough with the meteorology.
Today, MLK Day, is for me, one of the most significant on the calendar. It seems that there has been a creeping acceptance that on many of our holidays, Memorial Day, The Fourth of July, and Veterans Day, we honor those who took up arms in order to preserve our American way of life. I guess I had the idea that the first was to remember all those we loved who had gone before us, whether or not they were soldiers. I thought the second celebrated the day on which our Founding Fathers declared our independence from England, in fact, it's known as Independence Day. November 11th was declared Armistice Day in honor of the pact that ended what was believed at the time to have been "The War to End All Wars." By changing the name to Veterans Day, the emphasis has been placed again on those who served in the Armed Forces, albeit with a focus on living veterans.
We should remember those who were called, or volunteered, to enter military service, on our behalf. I don't know that we need to do it every three months or so. It seems to me that we have placed a greater value on militarism, and achieving justice through force of arms, than on seeking justice through the ideals established in our Constitution. Because he gave his life in that cause, without taking up arms, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of my greatest personal heroes, and one of the greatest people this nation has ever produced.
Surely one day a year is not too much to set aside for reflection upon what he stood for, what he achieved, and how he achieved it. He never fired a shot. He never even lifted a finger in his own defense. His weapons were love, peace, justice, and the promise of America. No one ever should have been beaten, attacked by dogs, jailed, or lynched to make our nation live up to its promise-the truth was self-evident. But King and many others took up the challenge, faced its horrors, and paid the ultimate price. They laid down their lives so that future generations of Americans could live in a land that not only paid lip-service to the ideals of liberty and equality, it practiced them. We are not there yet, but we are much closer than we were sixty years ago.
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
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