Our granddaughter, Elena, attends kindergarten in a school dedicated to building character. The entryway is a small rotunda with words like faithfulness, honesty, and integrity circling the dome. It is impressive. She came home from school last week explaining this about Martin Luther King:
“He was a superhero, that changed the world, then he got shot and died.”
That pretty much sums it up, I think. Great men and women have been willing to die to change the world for centuries. Some died for their faith (and many still do). Others died for a dream — of a better nation, an equal chance, a brighter tomorrow. When I think about these people, I’m reminded of a great movie line. (of course) At the end of The Wind and the Lion, when Mrs. Perdicaris and her children have been rescued, Teddy Roosevelt has persevered, and the Great Raisuli’s civil war has failed, the faithful armor bearer says to his leader, “Oh, Great Raisuli, we have lost everything.”
“Ah, yes,” says the Great Razuli in the voice of Sean Connery, “but isn’t it wonderful to have something worth losing everything for?”