Reading with the Pastor
Matthew 15, Proverbs 15, and Psalm 15
The staff are off today and the office is closed. Today we take time off and remember a man greatly used of God to move the nation forward toward justice and peace. Though recent years have proved that there is far more work to do, it is important to use days like these to slow down the pace of life and reflect on the legacy of a man who desired to make a difference.
Like you, dear reader, Martin Luther King was not perfect. He was flesh and blood, fearfully and wonderfully made, and made for a time and a season to awaken the sons and daughters of America to the racial injustice of a nation. I am thankful for his life and for his life’s effect on the nation of my birth.
Earlier this week, my brother Rob Taylor posted these words from MLK on what he would like people to think about him when he was gone. They are powerful.
I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I’d like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody.
I want you to say that day that I tried to be right and to walk with them. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe the naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. And I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.
Yes, if you want to, say that I was a drum major. Say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness.
And all of the other shallow things will not matter.
I won’t have any money to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that is all I want to say. If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer somebody with a well song, if I can show somebody he’s traveling wrong, then my living will not be in vain.
