Following the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, Democrats in the Massachusetts state legislature rushed to change a procedural rule thus allowing Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick to replace Kennedy with an interim and Democratic senator. During the 2004 presidential election this same august body had taken that power away from Republican Gov. Mitt Romney fearing he would appoint a Republican should their junior senator, John Kerry, become president. The maneuver displays the arrogance of the left. So significant is their agenda that changing the rules in the middle of the game is justified. Arrogance also leads them to dismiss disgruntled Americans as racists and dimwitted “tea baggers.” It is arrogance of the strongest sort that leads them to believe their policy solutions divinely inspired such that they say openly that Americans will take the medicine of the new left and learn to like it.

As I watch the screaming, tear-stained scenes of death and anguish unfolding on the nightly news, I cannot help but recall that only five years ago, my own hometown of New Orleans might have disappeared into the abyss of forgotten history were it not for the compassionate outreach of millions of people in this country and around the world. As President Obama said, it is times like these that remind us of our common humanity.

As we face very challenging times; be it the financial crisis, homelessness and poverty, wars, and even natural disasters such as last week’s catastrophic earthquake in Haiti—I realize I can only turn to God and the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man whose legacy we celebrated on Monday—to help me through these woeful times.

Here are some of King’s most insightful quotes and why I think his words remain relevant today.