This is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day when we remember the man and his dream.
Observed each year on the third Monday in January, it is one of very few federal holidays honoring an individual.
Dr. King was many things to many people. At the forefront of the civil rights movement in America, his courage, dedication and wisdom guided the cause through difficult days and violent nights. He became the symbol of hope for the future.
But Dr. King was not some mythic being. He was flesh and blood. A man who had greatness thrust upon him. And he was up to the challenge.
He was a man of faith. Faith in God above, certainly. He was a minister of the Gospel after all. But faith in his fellow man, faith that eventually we as human beings would do what is right and recognize the worth of every human, regardless of race, creed, color or national origin.
He was a man of courage. He stood with dignity as indignities came his way. He braved insults and threats. He was jailed. His reputation attacked, his name smeared. But he didn't give up.
He was a man of peace. The South was a dangerous place for all African Americans, but more so for a black man who bucked the system. The danger didn't come just from the Ku Klux Klan and angry mobs, but from the police and public officials as well. It's natural to want to fight back. But he pursued his goal without violence, certain his cause was just and his path was righteous.
He was a man with a dream. He saw a better future for men and women of all races. He understood that our nation could only achieve its potential if every American was treated equally, treated fairly, treated with respect. He foresaw a day "when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!""
Even after Dr. King was assassinated that day in Memphis in 1968, his dream lived on in the hearts and souls of those who followed him and it continues today in those not even born when he died.
So on this day we should all take time to remember that freedom in America is something that belongs to all of us. And say a prayer of thanks that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came our way.