A Word for Gandhi

By freak coincidence, I began this week to watch for the second time Richard Attenborough's 1982 classic Gandhi. The coincidence is that I ended up actually watching it on the 61st anniversary of the Mahatma's death.

January 30, 1948... another day to be remembered with December 7, 1941, and September 11, 2001. The day the world lost one of probably the three greatest human beings ever to walk the earth.

Oo, big surprise! The liberal pacifist agrees with Gandhi!

Here was a man who asked no material rewards-- all he wanted to do was free his country. Which he succeeded in doing, but not without great cost. Despite his continuous message of nonviolent resistance, by the end of his life, he had witnessed such atrocities as the massacre of Amritsar and nonstop months of rioting between Muslims and Hindus.

It's important to remember January 30th every year. In my opinion, it's more important than Martin Luther King Day, and before you crucify me for saying that, let me explain what I mean.

Gandhi was an example to Dr. King, but no other man in history has been able to cause such a tremendous stir over a pinch of salt.

Real heroes, like Gandhi and King, are people who do things for others while taking nothing for themselves. They don't ask to light up the pages of history, but their actions necessitate it. And there are people in the world who don't even know a single thing about Mohandas Gandhi! As the tagline for the 1982 movie says, "His triumph changed the world forever." His messages will never die. And when everyone in the world follows his example, we will finally live in the world in which we were intended to live.