I looked in the mirror today and saw a person screaming to be free! Do something! Change. Make a difference.

The person in the mirror was the 'me' of yesterday. Everything thing that I am today is a culmination of all my yesterdays, but it's not who 'I am'. It's people knowing me from my actions, my words and all the things of the past. And in the blink of my eye I heard a voice tell me, 'Today is a new day to be the person I want you to be.'

It's an opportunity to overwrite the wrongs, begin anew. This today is given to me for a reason. Who am I to squander it. I rejoice and am grateful.

The world was given a glimpse of the holocaust through the eyes of a young girl, named Anne Frank. Her feelings have inspired people of every race and religion. With love, we remember her this day.

The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.

He has allowed me to create who I am and what I will be. I hope I am making Him proud.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was taken a decade before my birth. I only know of him through history books. Until now, the only words I had heard him speak were from 'I have a Dream....' In researching this last day and choosing which quote to post, I found this audio track posted at the The King Center. I invite you to listen to him.

I listened to it once, and I felt Dr. King's passion. I listened to it again, and I heard his words. I listened a third time, and I understood.

Recognize, he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That is the new definition of greatness... and everybody can be great, because everybody can serve...
You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant.

Dr. King, your passion lives and continues today. Thank you.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired Americans and individuals around the world. He spoke words and took action that brought unity and non-violence with the principle of unconditional love.

"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream, the Trumpet of Conscience.”

Dr. King reminds me that beneath this armor is that Trumpet of Conscience, wanting to be played.

This statement from Dr. King hits me especially hard.

“Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

What he must have went through to overcome the obstacles he faced, and the faith in God he must have had to take that first step. The times and circumstances are different, but the obstacle is the same. The obstacle is not the haters or the bashers, or the unholy triad of the desires of this flesh, worldly powers and the devil's temptations, but the depths of my faith and everlasting belief, to take the first step.

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. released a book entitled Strength to Love. It contains sixteen sermons and one essay entitled "Pilgrimage to Nonviolence." The book was one of many which he wrote conveying his beliefs and stance on the conflicts he confronted.

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

I find my strength in Truth; to seek it, unveil it, choose it, act upon it, and to believe it in all its humbled glory.

Though spoken many years ago, these words by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are still powerfully true today.

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”

I feel this occurs when we allow so-called 'science and logic' to give explained reason for our actions, rather than doing what is unexplainably right.

Dr. King said further,

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

No matter if I am right or wrong, let me speak up and know that I am alive, expressing that which I believe.

I attempted to find just one quote from Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that tugged at my heart this day, but there are several. So this week, we honor Dr. King.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

We live in the darkness because we choose to. Hate because we do not allow ourselves to love, or be loved. Ignorance, nor innocence is an excuse.

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

As much as it pains Him, God gives us a choice. In darkness, there is hate. In light, there is love. Which will you choose?

Author Robert Tamasy wrote,

"If we are to be salt and light in our world, we need to go where the lost are... The Holy Spirit will start working in their lives as they watch ours, and then they will try to figure out why we are different."

It is said, You will know these people by what they do, by their fruits. (Matthew 7:16)

It is amazing to me how we can learn from what we've done, that I too have been lost, and the feeling of the Spirit working in my life, opening my heart and soul.

Over the past year and a half, I have learned from the quotes of so many. I have also learned I am what you call a 'collector', loving to learn and experiencing new 'input' into life. It is a blessing to live in such an abundant world.

Along the path of collecting these quotes, I have developed an appreciation for Albert Einstein. Please allow me to share one of my favorites.

"The search for truth and knowledge is one of the finest attributes of man, though often it is most loudly voiced by those who strive for it the least."

You learn alot about yourself when looking in the mirror, being honest who I am, and when you take time to reflect. I further learned not only that it's important to reflect, but the reasons why. I must thank a friend whom had enough courage and love in her in heart to tell me just that. Thank you.

Each day I use a planner to organize my tasks and prioritize. There's also a quote at the top of each page, though its rare that I find one that I wish to share via this blog. Today's is an exception.

Historical leader, General and American President, George Washington eloquently said,

True friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

It is then that we discover who we truly are, the friend, myself.

I feel all this thinking about me is selfish. My mistakes, ignorance, regrets, on and on and on. I cannot change past. I am allowing 'me' to get in the way... and I ain't gonna win. He's gonna get me, because it is where I am supposed to be. There is a greater plan than I am can and am meant to understand; my purpose is to act with unconditional trust, guiding faith, His will.

The prophet Hosea says,

"He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; He has injured us, but he will bind up our wounds."

It further draws me to one my favorite CS Lewis passages,

He is not safe, but He is good.

Sometimes I feel it's a moving target. Me. Flip-flopping from reliving the past and what I had planned for the future. My mind a-wandering and me trying to fight my old habits and old-ways of thinking. It's hard to make a change. It's hard to go about your day-to-day. It's exciting and a challenge and scary all at the same time. Maybe because I feel that I'm alone making the change, and although I'm told i have the support of friends, the only person that can make the change, turn it over and surrender it all up, is me.

Today, I turn to American theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr for words that express my thoughts and my request.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Dale Galloway once wrote,

"A rose only becomes beautiful and blesses others when it opens up and blooms. Its greatest tragedy is to stay in a tight-closed bud, never fulfilling its potential."

I don't know if I can be called a rose, but i do know that I have been and I now challenge myself to open to bloom. I was closed so tight that it caused pain to the person I love, and that closed-bud selfishness upset the entire garden that I thought and tried to be a beautiful part of.

Lord, let the nurturing continue. Let your grace and love shine upon the one and those I hurt. Let your strength and encouragement shower me. Let it create a rainbow.

This next gentleman pens a feeling I've had for some time. He is a respected composer and songwriter, Mr. Porter Cole.

"I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences. I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences. Don't fence me in."

Why does the fencing take place? There's an interesting test I've recently taken. What values are my own? What values have been imposed? Which will I choose to live? I can tell you, I've been fenced in way too long. Playwright Christopher Fry has so keenly written,

"Life is a hypocrite if I can't live, The way it moves me!"

Photo by Wayne Mumford.

Author and Pastor Dr. James McDonald writes,

"I want every detail of every circumstance of every moment of every day to awaken my heart to the reality of God and His nearness."

To live with this thought, to feel the presence of God, to see God in all things, to experience God, is to know God - and thyself.