Remembering Martin Luther King Junior today, January 19, 2026. Today is also my 54th birthday. Back in middle school I entered and won our county Black History Month competition. Beyond the recognition, the $100 prize was quite an accomplishment for my middle-schooler self. I painted a wide mural of the greats who brought change and reform to the oppressed community. I rendered Martin Luther King Junior giving his enigmatic speech, Abraham Lincoln, Malcom X, and other civil rights leaders in graphite, cross-hatching, and airbrush. The mural remained in my parents’ basement for decades. When they moved a few years ago I finally laid it to rest. Please enjoy these messages from Rabbi Simon Jacobson. He’s my daily spiritual go to, a wise soul full of love and kindness with whom he spreads across borders, boundaries. Love.
“This is not just a nice hobby, extracurricular activity, but is the essence of who we are and what we should be accomplishing in this world. And there’s no doubt that this dream will be fulfilled, and we’re closer than ever. especially with technology today that can be a force that separates us and divides us, but it can also be a force that unites us.”
“May it be so. So dream, and dream beyond your dreams. Imagine beyond your imagination. A new reality is upon us, but it’s up to us to do our part, and the unfolding drama of the vision, the cosmic vision. The dream.” — Rabbi Simon Jacobson, The Meaningful Life Center