In the words of our children...I am not throwing “shade” on Socrates nor Civil Rights Icon Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

Dr. King used a quote from Socrates in several of his speeches. Socrates is undeniably considered to be the founder of Western Philosophy. It stands to reason that Dr. King would find a few nuggets in the sage scripts of Socrates.

I humbly offer a crumb to cogitate on surrounding the philosopher’s quote Dr. King references. “An unexamined life is not worth living.” My humble assertion is Socrates and King missed the mark. It is critical to analyze your life and your contributions, which in returns uplifts society and ignites and flourishes the human life. This idea is embraced by our St. Philip’s scholars in the Lord’s Prayer and in the St. Philip’s Creed.

I maintain that every life is worth living and every life is ultimately examined. Just as every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess (Romans 14:11) we will all have an accounting. I also promote some simple mental gymnastics around the reality that being alive is different than living. In both cases, we must follow God’s lead and speak life. “Speak life. Seek life. Giving it treasure and measure.”

WIDWID stands for Why I Do What I Do. A question we desire our students to query routinely. What is your WIDWID?

No offense or shade to Socrates or Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but I think the mark is missed in the statement, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”

To evaluate my ponderings, I call up two intellectual heavy weights: Dr. Cornell West and Professor Roby George, who are good friends to St. Philip’s and leaders in Modern Day Philosophy. I pose the question to them. Did Socrates and Dr. King miss the mark?