In August 2011, we posted an item that featured Dr. Martin Luther King. As we observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day today in his honor, I wanted to re-post an important part of the original item from August 2011 that emphasizes each man’s obligation to act now and do the right thing.
I do not believe that ‘time heals all’ or that ‘time will tell.’ Men heal wounds and resolve issues by action, not by letting time take its course. This fact was never more eloquently expressed than by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his April 16, 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Dr. King writes his letter in response to a published statement by eight Alabama clergymen. The clergymen insisted that Dr. King’s non-violent demonstrations were, among other things ill-timed.
Dr. King responds that this type of mindset “… grows out of a tragic misconception of time. It is the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills.” He continues, “We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”
… I want to look back without regret and say I used my time wisely and I made choices to promote the good will and welfare of my fellow man. The Vitruvian Man makes time his ally.
The time is always ripe to do right.