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Today we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
As we do so, I’ve pulled a couple of lesser-known speeches he gave that impart some important wisdom. Wisdom that reminds us that Dr. King was first and foremost a pastor. Was he a perfect man? Of course not. Do I think that negates any wisdom he spoke? Of course not.
Your Life’s Blueprint
If you’d like to read along, here’s the transcript of the speech.
My eldest is graduating this spring. This message is so filled with bits of wisdom that I hope we have imparted to him. Do you have a plan? Do you know your value? Strive for excellence not mediocrity! And here’s my favorite bit,
And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. Don’t just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn’t do it any better.
As my pastor says… Can I get an ‘Amen’?!
A Complete Life
This ones a bit longer, but full of lots of good stuff as well. Dr. King looks at the real value of life and where it’s found. He concludes that it involves living with a three-fold focus: self, others, and God. Length, breadth, and height.
- Accept your limitations. Develop your strengths. Persevere.
- Serve others. Don’t ask, ‘What will happen to me if I stop to help?’ Ask, ‘What will happen to this person if I don’t stop?’
- Live upwards.
I want to say that we should search for him. We were made for God, and we will be restless until we find rest in him.
..you know there are a lot of people who affirm the existence of God with their lips, and they deny his existence with their lives.
Here’s the transcript of the speech, if you prefer to read it.
The Dream
Many today who claim to be on the side of equality seem to be pushing for more segregation, it seems. What I see is an increasing number of people who want us to be judged by our skin color. Maybe I’m naive, but I agree with Dr. King when he said, in his most famous speech,
I have a dream that my…children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
We’re still working on it, Dr. King…
Click here to read: Saving black lives where they’re most at risk…in the womb
I encourage you to listen to these speeches today, or read the transcripts. I can guarantee you’ll find something of value.
Which of these MLK speeches encouraged you? Challenged you?
Extraordinary man. And yes, it does seem as if we are moving backwards in terms of equality at the moment. Or at least the media makes it seems like that, on the ground, I am not so sure that is the case.
Isn’t that the case frequently, Tania? You make a good point. So often it’s the media and/or the leaders of a “movement” who propagate ideals that are not shared with even those who follow them. Those on the ground, the average person, seem to see things a bit more clearly in many cases.
Very timely indeed. It’s unbelievable how much of what Dr. King says holds up and true today.
I think this guy was such an inspiration to us all. I wonder what he would feel today if he was still alive. I
Thank you for sharing these gems. MLK was a great man, a great leader.
From observation it seems that a lot of folks are not curious enough to learn more about people who look and act differently. If they were, this would be a much different world. Let’s all try to be a little more curious.
That’s a valuable way to look at things, Kandas. I happen to think that public school kills a lot of our innate curiosity. (And I mean no disrespect to teachers, I taught public school and LOVE teachers!) It’s the whole system that discourages the natural curiosity I believe we’re all born with. I know I saw it in my own kids. Re-developing that natural curiosity would go a long way in understanding each other, and simply being kinder to one another.
I was privileged to be alive when Dr. King was still preaching and heavily involved in the Civil Rights movement. Many do forget he was a minister and the son of a minister. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to him. He truly changed the world.
I was raised “colorblind”, and it’s something I believe to be a good thing. I see opportunity and hope for everyone equal, I don’t see a difference. When I became a teacher it was shoved down our throats that colorblind is bad, embracing diversity is great. And I drank the Kool-aid, it was great to celebrate the unique attributes everyone brings to the table. But now I see much more hate from the generation we taught to have pride in their cultures. Celebrating diversities divided it seems. Perhaps we over shot on some things? Perhaps the points were missed on some teachers and leaders? Perhaps somewhere along the way the message was misconstrued that there should be a great divide?
I live in Alabama. When we first discussed moving here I cringed, all I could picture was the divide that existed in Houston only deepening in Huntsville. In Houston you were called a racist no matter what you did, there seemed like there was so much pint up anger and resentment between all of the communities. But in Alabama it wasn’t that way. It was strange. Somehow no matter your race you could be friends, you could stand near each other in proximity at the deli market. There was no attention paid to who was doing what and in no way did I ever feel unwelcome wether in a white owned establishment, a hispanic owned establishment, an indian owned establishment, or an african american owned establishment. Anyone was happy to have you no matter your race.
I see racial divides on CNN. I see it discussed on weekly sitcoms, and on my blogs, but somehow our little community has seen no violence or hatred as of yet, not so much as a sideways glance. I head to New Orleans every year for the Bayou classic and receive nothing but kindness and smiles. A welcoming hug from strangers when we score the huge touchdown, because we are all fans of the same team. We are all enjoying the same holiday. Enjoying the same foods. Seeing the same sights. We are all living in the same world, doing the same things, working to survive together. We worship together and we play together. I am so lucky and blessed that I do not see the divide that has been highlighted by every stream of media.
Between color blind and diversity appreciation, I suppose I reside somewhere in between.
I had a very similar experience to yours. It was in college, training to be a teacher, where the ‘multi-culturalism’ philosophy was promoted. I taught in Georgia for a number of years, and saw both sides. A white parent who wouldn’t send their child to school for a black history day. A black parent who didn’t want a white woman touching her daughter. And, like you, I just always look at people as people. Clearly celebrating one’s heritage is beautiful and wonderful and good, but I simply do not understand how putting the focus on how race divides us can be productive. Sigh… I’m with you, there in the middle. 🙂
If we only pay attention to people who were perfect, then we might as well forfeit our sense of hearing. There is no such person- nor is there such an entity. (Supreme Beings are not entities! And, even with our Supreme Being, our lack of capability makes it impossible for us to comprehend why something so horrendous can be occurring- because we lack the insight and the future knowledge to discern why and how it fits the situation.)
Dr. King became one of my inspiring characters long ago- long before his famous “I have a dream” speech. (That, however, was ONE HECK OF A SPEECH!). No, it’s when I learned of his Montgomery boycott statement (And I won’t rest; I will face intimidation, and everything else, along with these other stalwart fighters for democracy and for citizenship. We don’t mind it, so long as justice comes out of it. And I’ve come to see now that as we struggle for our rights, maybe some of them will have to die. But somebody said, if a man doesn’t have something that he’ll die for, he isn’t fit to live.) and his letter from a Birmingham Jail. (when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos, “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger” and your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and when your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”)
And, having just returned from Selma, Montgomery, and Birmingham to honor those who make a difference, I was emboldened by another who was also there so long ago, who reminded us that “we are all important pieces in the jigsaw of life”.
Thanks, Roy! One of the things my husband mentioned to me today, after watching Dr. King’s speech above at a junior high school, was how he spoke to those schoolchildren with the same eloquence that he would have a group of adults. And I’m with you, regarding the perfect person idea. We’d never learn anything or gain any wisdom if we rule out the imperfect! I can totally see how someone’s behavior could cause us to question what they say, or even choose not to listen to them. But it’s important as well for us to be able to examine the words themselves, and give them value regardless of what we think of the person speaking them.
I love everything about this post!
Thanks, Bianca! I’m glad you stopped by today.
Beautiful post to commemorate this honorable, brave, and inspirational man!
I’m from the UK and I only ever heard about MLK from pasting reference from film or books. There was documentary on him that was posted on Netflix and i intend to sit down and to watch this. Thank you for this quote. xx
Thanks for stopping by, Anna. I find it fascinating how various countries honor people from their history, and others have no idea who many of the people even are. My sister lived in Russia for 18 years, and we had this discussion many times. So much to learn!
When I look back at MLK and his struggles for humannright I get this voice saying to me, I can do even b3ter, he was true inspiration.