Happy MLK, Jr. Day!

As you know, today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Most of us remember King, Jr. as a wise and couragous civil rights leader, who helped steer and guide our nation out of the bondages of oppression and slavery. If you have never taken a few minutes to read excerpts from a few of his speeches, or from some of his letters he wrote while in prison, I encourage you hop online or to check out a book from your library and spend some time getting to know this great man.

I have included one of his quotes which I came across during my service work at Wesleyan. It has always stuck with me, and I believe these words will ring true forever. There are so many areas in which we can spend time serving, and so many folks who are in dire need of our assistance. At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, I urge you to call your local soup kitchen or food bank and ask what you can do to assist. Or find another way to spend a few minutes each week in service to others. It is rewarding, fulfilling, and incredibly educational. Plus, it just makes you feel darn good! I end with the following words from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

"Everybody can be great, because 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 Thermal Dynamics in Physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant."- Excerpted from "The Drum Major Instinct", a sermon by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1968.