THE MEASURE OF A MAN * THE MEASURE OF A MAN

 The measure of a man is a powerful concept. It's about life and how you'll live it, what you'll give to it and what you will take from it. These two books have the same title, but to me were quite different.  One man's thoughts and ideas boil down to how simply one can live a great and powerful life, yet his life was cut short and he died young.  The other man watched the world around him carefully as he made his way to fame and success and a long life.  One man marched and pushed buttons in reality, the other man pushed buttons in a fictional realm.

The Measure of a Man by Martin Luther King, Jr. - There is so much wisdom and beauty packed into this small volume that I am going to read it again. The part about the length, the breadth and the height of a man's life is especially good. If every person could read these words and live accordingly we wouldn't need commandments and laws, and our world would be peaceful instead of fallen.

The Measure of a Man A Spiritual Autobiography by Sidney Poitier - Sidney Poitier was born on a small island and raised in natural surroundings with no exposure to electricity, running water inside a house or cars until he was 10 years old. He kept on moving from then on, working and making his way forward, and his intelligence, talent and looks led him to acting and on to success in the movies.  I just finished reading Martin Luther King, Jr's The Measure of a Man again. He writes about the vision that St. John had on the island of Patmos about a complete city where "the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal."  Martin Luther King goes on to apply those three dimensions to the idea of a complete life.  He says "The length of life as we shall think of it here is not its duration or its longevity, but it is the push of a life forward to achieve its personal ends and ambitions.  It is the inward concern for one's own welfare. The breadth of life is the outward concern for the welfare of others.   The height of life is the upward reach for God."   He also writes about loving oneself so that one can love others. It's all the self-improvement one needs....I feel like The Secret is here - all the explanations, writing, detailing and exampling in other books by other authors are essentially saying what Martin Luther King said so simply in the 1950s.The Measure of a Man Copyright 1959 by The Christian Education Press and 1968 by the United Church Press. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 68-8357