Tuesday January 17, 2023; 9:39 PM EST
- A friend writes that rituals can empty out their meaning, or grow lazy where once they were provocative. He suggests listening to Dr. King's speech on the Vietnam War, and see if that doesn't help reawaken our sense of the daring King, the one who poked the conscience of the nation. It's not the familiar phrases heard so many times until they have become slogans that keep a nation awake, it's the specificity of analysis and provocation. It's the particulars that still have a chance to speak, instead of inspiring sleep.#