Fifty years ago today, hate silenced a man known for his loving expressions of the full humanity and peaceful demonstrations of the inalienable rights of people of all colors and nations.

In my monthly email newsletters, I have begun profiling people who have played important roles in the long fight for equality and acceptance. So far I’ve told my email subscribers about Olaudah Equiano and William Wilberforce. Since I’m roughly following a chronological order, it will be a while before I get to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but I hope you’ll take a moment today to remember the courage he had, the forbearance he showed, the fire with which he spoke, the love and forgiveness he extended, and the principles he would not compromise.

I ran into a quote of his today that I had not read before, or if I had, I had forgotten it. And I wanted to share it with you:

“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But…the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

I, along with many others, have too often defaulted to self-interest and self-preservation at the expense of someone else who is hurting, different, marginalized, or forgotten. It’s something I’m ashamed of and something I repent of. It’s so much easier and more comfortable to leave the work to others. Instead, let’s let the good works of others inspire us to our own good works in service of one another and to the glory of the God who made all of mankind in His image.

If once in a while you’d like to read positive, life-affirming profiles of the men and women who have fought the good fight for freedom and racial equality, I invite you to sign up for my monthly newsletter. By doing so you’ll also be the first to see publishing news — including the big reveal of the cover of my debut novel, We Hope for Better Things, which I am hoping to share sometime in the coming months, and the first endorsement I’ve received for the book, which about knocked me over. The newsletter arrives in your mailbox on the 15th of each month and is always exclusive content I’m not sharing anywhere else.

Hope to see you there. 🙂