This week, even as we anticipate the inauguration of our nation's first African-American president, we are remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Forty years after his death, we now celebrate King's birthday (January 15) as a national holiday. We remember King as the driving force behind the Civil Rights movement of the early 1960's. We do not always remember, especially during the last few years of his life, King identified himself with opposition to the Vietnam war and with efforts to end poverty and support poor people in the United States. These positions put him in significant tension with many of those who had supported his efforts for racial equality. He was assassinated in Memphis, TN in 1968, where he had gone to support garbage collectors there who were on strike.

Heroes such as MLK, Jr. can become almost super human in our memory of them. Like Jesus, there is a tendency for us to worship them without the obligation to follow in their footsteps. But heroes like King, and the more unlikely heroes we have in our lives, give us a foundation on which to take important stands. They provide the shoulders that lift us up to see father and act more heroically. Who are the heroes in your life? Who are the ones who help you to gain a fresh perspective and remind you of what is most important in lift? Give thanks for them, especially this week. Also, be a hero to someone else by your example, by your passion, and by your love.

Thanks for continuing to bless me as we journey together.

--Jack Price

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