I'm enjoying this conversation. Thank you, Jen.

When I reflect on Martin Luther King, Jr. sitting in the small Birmingham jail cell, I think of many things. There he is - putting himself last (in a manner of speaking) and human beings (their dignity) ahead of himself. There he is reflecting deeply on Thomas Aquinas' treatise on the matter of God, authority, human destiny, politics, and civil disobedience. As the man writes his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, his heart is lifted up by a truth and mission that transcends his own personal ambitions, happiness and comfort.

His vision is not his vision. Perhaps, it is a vision, hope and dream of the people. His clarity is about the dignity of the human person - not how the civil rights fight shall be won or when it will be won. As he admits himself, he stands on the mountaintop like Moses, looking upon the distant promised land, but knowing (perhaps with sadness) that he shall never put his own foot there.

And surely no one questions whether or not MLK, Jr. was a leader.