Never Thought

I never thought that reading a 10 page letter that was assigned for my English class would have so much impact on my life right now. I was assigned to read and analyze the "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr. I would have never even imagined that a man who fought for equal treatment of blacks and whites would ever have as big of an impact on my life as he just did. The preface of this letter is that MLK Jr was sent to jail and he is writing this "letter" in his jail cell with scraps of paper he is given by a friend and is eventually published from his attorney's note pad. He was sent to jail for marching without a permit (which is essentially peaceful protesting).

In this letter he talks about how he feels he was wrongfully sent to jail but he explains why in the most calm and peaceful manner. One of the lines that got me was, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." I honestly just sat there and thought how amazingly smart this man was. It's no secret that I have been going through a lot of problems lately. This little statement applies so much it's ridiculous. Then he goes on to say "whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Your thoughts, actions everything you do can change the view of yourself to others, their actions, all kinds of things. One little thing can change something so big even if it has no significance. I've learned this the hard way, but really it's true. After he continues on about why this is wrong and that is unjust he changes by saying "If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me." How can he be so calm?! I feel SO stupid. Some little stupid thing happens and I think that my entire world is falling apart. This man has seen death, torture, injustice, told where he can go and can't go, been sent to jail for speaking his opinion and so much more. His situations are far worse than anyone's in this day in age will ever be... and he asks for forgiveness.

I'm honestly floored. I've never felt so childish and upset with myself ever. Sure, I've had a difficultish life... sure I've lost a lot of things... sure I've been treated unfairly sometimes... but it doesn't even close to add up. I've been upset over stupid things like school and relationships and personal well-being and shutting pretty much everyone out. All he wants is peace. He wants his opinion to be heard, but not for selfish reasons... he wants to inspire those who are on the harsh end of this reality. He wants to show those that segregation is not right and he is going to stand up for it. He wants to give those people a voice. I know that when I want to be heard it's all for selfish reasons. Always me, me, me or I want to be understood or I need this closure or I need you to hear this. No! That's not right.

I never thought that this man, this silly letter would have so much impact on me. So much advice on how to handle things that I'm going through. I've always been the one to inspire people, help others and completely ignore my own problems until they spiral and get worse. I've never even thought about just striving for peace. Not letting the little things get to me because in the long run... they mean nothing. Nothing at all...