Individuals have power to change world with love

Honor King’s legacy today with effort to improve community

In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent efforts to achieve civil rights and social justice for all.

Gunnar Jahn, chairman of the Nobel Committee, noted in his presentation speech, “(King) is the first person in the Western world to have shown us that a struggle can be waged without violence. He is the first to make the message of brotherly love a reality in the course of his struggle, and he has brought this message to all men, to all nations and races.” In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize, King touched on the theme of love transcending all.

“Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”

King noted that man had the power to change his circumstances, to move forward and advance, to take control of his life.

“I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him…”

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”

Today, racial injustices still exist, and the list of issues on planet Earth could run a mile long: political schisms, poverty, hunger, war, educational disparities, etc., etc. Yet King’s message doesn’t waver. As individuals, we have the power to change our lives. And with each move, we have the potential to impact the world, one little step at a time.

King was right – it all begins with love. Love does matter. Love does change the world.

And today, in 2020, it’s not too late to reach out and make a difference, to change one’s circumstances, to influence one’s community, and to take charge.

It’s one of the best ways we can honor King’s legacy.

DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS OR NOT?

On Dec. 12, 2019, I was sitting in my jacuzzi having a cup of coffee and doing my daily exercises and morning stretching. My jacuzzi is located on the north side of our home. We live on 34 acres of desert about a mile east of the Wellton Mohawk offices. I have a clear 180-degree view to the west, north and east.

At about 0615 I was facing north as I usually do looking for shooting stars, satellites, meteors or aircraft. This day I saw what I thought were three satellites or whatever. Then I saw another, then another and another. I counted 21 of these bright somethings all in a line. My best guess is they were all on a heading of about 130 degrees. They all appeared to be on a separation of about a quarter mile to a half mile. I heard nothing.

I contacted others I knew who were either commercial pilots or military pilots and we could only come up with guesses, satellites, drones or military aircraft. I write this hoping someone else in Yuma County saw it or had other ideas of what it might have been.