Happy MLK Day!

What do you think of when you think about MLK Day?

I have to admit that for me it's just been a day off school, or a day off work, or a day we don't get mail. I mean, I didn't grow up having this holiday (the first year it existed as a National Holiday was 1986, when I was 14) so it was cool when we started getting an extra day off pretty soon after being back from the holidays. But I truly haven't really "gotten" the day. Of course I learned about MLK Jr. in school and I know what his actions meant to African Americans. But I suppose I figured that this was a holiday for African Americans, and I haven't ever embraced it to truly honor and appreciate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Until this year.

This year I think I'm just beginning to get it.

I can see now, just by my interest in this holiday, how much my thinking about justice issues has actually changed over this past year alone. Through conversations with people, a certain conference I happened to attend, a couple of particular books, and reading His Word, God has taken me on a journey - a journey that I didn't even know I needed to take - from ignorance and apathy about poor and marginalized people, to caring and even some action toward justice for them. It's been an unexpected shift, but I'm so happy it's happened.

Now Martin Luther King, Jr. is so much more a hero to me than ever! Not only were the things he lead out in and spoke about needed for basic human decency to exist in America, but these things were AND ARE also at the heart of the message of Jesus. Dr. King's willingness to cry out for equal treatment for all kinds of people in the midst of such hatred and violent persecution shows a courage and a character that I can only hope to imitate.

So, this year, and in the future, as we have a three or four-day weekend for MLK Day, my family is going to make something more of it! We're going to talk about who Dr. King was, what kinds of things he did and spoke about, and why all of that is important. I hope to begin instilling in my children the importance of human and civil rights, and the absurdity of thinking any one kind of people are below any other. And we're going to celebrate with acts of service. (In 1994 MLK Day was made into a National Day of Service.) We're going to do things that help our community - big or small - some things the kids come up with, and some pre-planned projects. No longer will MLK Day just be a day off for us. It now will hold meaning, teaching lessons of justice and love for all people!

Okay, I know that last part must sound a bit dramatic... I'm sorry... I'm just really excited about this new found passion - mainly because I know it's a passion Jesus had! So, please forgive me if you've been someone who has understood what MLK day is about all along and wonder why I'm just now getting it... And, on the other hand, if you've been like me and not given it much thought, consider this your opportunity to give it an extra thought, to maybe make a shift, to broaden your view of justice issues, and give Martin Luther King Jr's message a chance to take hold of you....

my guess it that it will!

"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

"All life is interrelated. The agony of the poor impoverishes the rich; the betterment of the poor enriches the rich."

"Life's persistent and most urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"

"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love."

"We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools."

"Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve."

--Martin Luther King, Jr.