“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

What is said today, on MLK Day, just days before a new president is sworn in, just weeks after an insurrection at the Capital, and in the midst of a world-wide pandemic – the words that are said today, and every day, matter. They matter to the ones who hear them, the ones who learn of them later, and the ones who will come long after we’re gone.

Words matter. And how we use those words, how we speak, and the actions that back them up – creative altruism, or destructive selfishness?

No one seeks to be selfish. No one seeks to be self-destructive. But it happens. Whether by training, or by need, there are learned behaviors that can become harmful is left to persist. We’ve seen the course of action that people will take when acting destructively, and operating on misleading words.

King wished for, and believed in, the goodness of humanity. A goodness we’re still trying to live up to.