As we celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday, what comes to mind was his commitment to live a life of service. "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant." (Mark 10:43)
According to his now deceased wife: "Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is not only for the celebration and remembrance, education and tribute, but above all, a day of service. All across America, on the holiday, his followers perform service in hospitals and shelters and pinions and wherever people need some help. It is a day of volunteering to feed the hungry, rehabilitate housing, tutoring those who can't read, mentoring at risk youngsters, consoling the broken-hearted, and a thousand other projects for building the beloved community of his dream."
So, it now becomes a day on, not a day off.
Dr. King was also my fraternity brother (Alpha Phi Alpha). We all dedicate ourselves to be "servants of all." My wife is fond of reminding me and her colleagues that service to her means giving her best to her patients, family, colleagues, friends, community, and country. I honor my ancestors by finding opportunities to serve and to be kind to mankind.
To me, service means showing my best self to everyone I encounter. We are all so dependent on each other. Just by walking by someone who is infected with COVID-19 could mean the death of us. Life can be so fleeting. So, what are we waiting for? Let's get cracking and give the best of you to your fellow travelers on this planet.
If I can help somebody along the way, please school me about it and I will see what I can do. I thank everyone who is willing to accept help from me because that is the only way I get my blessing. "Lean on me when you are not strong and I will help you carry on, for it won't be long before I will need somebody to lean on." (Bill Withers)
I wish you and your loved ones, health and success in 2021.
"If you want to be important, wonderful. If you want to be recognized, wonderful. If you want to be great, wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant, That's a new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love." (Martin Luther King, 1968)