a good and decent man

A few weeks ago I kept trying to think of that phrase -- the man who..."saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it..."

The reason I was thinking of that phrase and that sentiment was because of a situation where I observed somebody who had the ability and the clout to make something better for people, and he did it. He chose to help. He chose to make it better.

And I thought a lot about the POWER FOR GOOD that's in that inclination and willingness to use one's strength, ability, creative thinking, and pure, simple power to Make Things Better.

We talk about those qualities in our statesmen (especially when they pass away, as Ted Kennedy did this week). But it certainly is not only national or state leaders who can apply this power -- everyone can do it, in daily life.

I get inspired thinking about that.

I couldn't remember, earlier this summer, if those phrases -- "saw wrong and tried to right it," etc. -- came from the eulogy for President Kennedy in 1963, or the eulogy for Bobby Kennedy in 1968. Looked it up: Ted gave that eulogy in '68, for RFK.

"My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it. Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world."

Beautiful.