Every now and then its a good thing to reflect on things. One’s life, achievements, disappointments, goals, successes. Some folks are pretty happy about the ratio of achievements to time spent, while others begin the new year with resolutions to be more efficient with the time they have. Today is that day for me, and it also happens to be Martin Luther King Day.

I sit in my “Captain’s Chair”, you know-the chair every guy has that marks him as the ruler of the house-and I contemplate the small amount of information I can recall about this great man’s life. I recall seeing somewhere that they might make a movie. Hope its a good one I remark to myself. But honestly, would I know if it were a good one or a bad one? This is the point where I have to be honest with myself. Like the Christian who follows Christ, but doesn’t really know where Jesus was born and has to sing a Christmas Carrol to get the clues, or who isn’t too knowledgeable of the details except for the whole death on the cross thing.  I begin to think about all the stuff I don’t know about the man, Martin Luther King jr. I wonder what it would have been like living in his day. Would I have taken part in any of those demonstrations? Would I have known him? Would I be too busy trying to make ends meet for my family? What am I doing now? How do I measure up to this man? What have I done with my talents and with my time? These are the tough questions. They make you want to do more, to be more. What it must have taken to do those things. To march knowing good and well people straight-up hate you and would like to do you bodily harm. To do so knowing the dangers involved for family and friends you care about deeply. What a sense of conviction.

I wonder if the stuff he was made out of is present in this world we live in today. Everyone has this sense of entitlement, thinking they deserve this and that. But the level of humility this guy had is just baffling to me. To be non-violent about it and to patiently wait while in a prison cell. Wait for things to get better, believing that your position was correct.  What faith in God this man had. I can barely wait in line at McDonald’s without getting a little antsy and short with the cashier!

What would happen if I applied myself? I wonder what my potential is and could be. What if I were efficient with my time? Martin Luther King jr. was the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Price in the time he lived. What an amazing feat.

I sit and contemplate these things wondering if there will be another person like him. I wonder if more of us responded to our own callings, what things would be like. Or rather just me, what if  ‘I’ make a move? How would I change my own life or the lives of my family and friends? What dent could I make on this world?