January 20th, 2025 marks the 40th annual observance of a national holiday for the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was a civil rights leader, a pastor, and a voice of conscience that challenged and changed our nation and the world. Many people observe the holiday by participating in the Martin Luther King Day of Service, an individual or family practice of helping and serving in response to the call to love and serve our neighbors, a call that resonates throughout the history of faithful people. The Racial Justice Ministry Team of Grace Lutheran Church lifts up the observance of the Martin Luther King holiday this year, however you choose to observe, as a reminder that there is still much work to be done, in the world and within ourselves.
“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. And you can be that servant.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr. from “Drum Major Instinct,” February 4, 1968