MLK, JR Inspiration

One of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King, JR was in his response to the frenzy across America at the assasination of John F. Kennedy. King stated, "The question is not who killed JFK, but rather, what killed JFK." I have come to see and understand how the actiopns of society are passed on and adopted as norms. I am reading another great novel by Jodi Picoult, Perfect Match. So far, a five-year old boy (Nathaniel) was molested by a priest (Father Szyszynski), and the mother of the boy is a district attorney who knows all to well how molestation cases of young children often amount to nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Assuming to know which priest molested Nathaniel, the mother shoots him in the head four times during his arraignment, he is murdered in court! The mother is so insistant that the priest should not live because of what she took away from her son. Having friends in the court system, she gets off on bail and she sneaks (identity hidden behind a dark shawl) into the priests funeral service and has this discovery: "When I turn my gaze falls on the front left pew, where a woman in black is bent over at the waist, sobing so hard she cannot catch her breath. Her iron-gray curls wilt beneath her black cloche hate; her hands are knotted so tightly around the edge of the pew I think she may splinter the wood. The priest who has given me communion whispers to another clergyman, who takes over as he goes over to comfort her. And that is when it hits me: Father Szyszynski was someone's son, too. My chest fills with lead and my legs melt beneath me. I can tell myself that I have gotten retribution for Nathaniel; I can say that I was morally right - but cannot take away the truth that another mother has lost her child because of me. Is it right to close one cycle of pain it if only opens up another one?" These two thoughts go hand in hand (in my opinion) because yes, we spread the cycle of pain, violence and hate. I truly believe that we need to be aware of our own actions and words and take responsibility for what we share with the world - because it spreads. I cannot tell you how many times I have lost my patience or was too crabby to handle a situation with my five-year old niece correctly, how many times I have said the wrong thing or over-reacted, etc, only to come back a little later and apologize or "make it right." It never fails, the five-year old brain picks up on "making it right" and learns herself how to be a better person - how to live as God wants us to live. We can make mistakes, but if we don't quickly correct them (or if those mistakes are too big to correct, like killi9ng someone), then the mistakes grows and continues to cause harm. I am inspired today by the life and minsitry of Dr. Martin Luther King, JR.