Two things this week, my friends. This week upcoming we as a nation are noting the 50th anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech. This was a peaceful march on our nation's capital and a strong message to the country and our political leadership, and to the world as well. Its backdrop, the Lincoln Memorial was quite appropriate in the sense that it showed progress in the work begun by Lincoln to rid our country of the scourge of slavery and prejudice. But it also highlighted the immense challenges we still faced then, and sadly the great divide that we still have in this country. There are more good, color-blind people in this country than there were fifty years ago, but there are still bad people on both sides teaching their children to hate whatever is different. That dream is not dead, not by a long shot. But there is still a great deal of work to do. We can talk about changing laws, or writing new laws or repealing old laws until we are blue in the face, but nothing will change until we stop teaching our children that different equals evil or inferior, and that they can be defined by someone else. Dr King had the dream. It falls to us to make sure it comes true.
I'd also like to add a message for a friend that might also say something to anyone who has lost a loved one (and that would be just about everyone reading this I think)
As a matter of courtesy and respect for privacy, I'm not going to name any names.... But a rather famous man passed away a few days ago, and my friend knew him. They worked together at times, but they were also friends. And in the local observance of his passing, she was unable to make it to the funeral. We talked a bit last night about that, and this is how I feel about funerals and paying respects to our friends and loved ones. Funerals aren't really for the dead, they are for the living. If you had a relationship of any kind with someone who has passed away, you don't need to publicly mourn them. Our personal relationships aren't really public. They are private, in the heart and mind, and the way we pay our respects to someone's passing should perhaps reflect the way we knew them. If it helps you to celebrate their life with others in a public setting, that's fine. But it isn't necessary. And I honestly believe (but don't ask me to explain why) that our passed loved ones know and understand that we honor their lives and the effect that they have had on ours, no matter how we choose to do that. I dealt with my wife's passing privately. I made sure that our friends and family members knew, because it was their right to know. But the services I held were my own, in my own heart and in my home. My friend, celebrate your friend's life in the way that is right for you. He will know it and appreciate it. And you and I will drink a toast to his everlasting legacy :)
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