You have a weekend assignment! But we think you will enjoy it. 

As part of the 19 Day Challenge, we wanted to highlight people who have drawn on the deep well-springs of faith and their love for God to bring good into the world and influence others, who exemplified “deeds” over “words”. Almost no human being in 20th century American life embodied that more than Dr Martin Luther King Jr.  The son and grandson of a Baptist minister, Dr King joined the clergy himself after completing a degree in Divinity from Harvard University. Early in life, while only in his 30’s, he assumed a leadership position in the struggle for civil rights.  Dr King could have taken many approaches to try and right the festering wounds that still blighted American society from its inception as a slave-holding nation, but he chose the path of peace and justice.  His speeches are a lesson in the application of spiritual and moral principle to the challenges of life and of society.  He talked about Christ’s admonition to “love God with all your heart, and all your mind, and all your soul” and emphasized that it included “loving God with your mind”.  We often hear only segments of his talks, but listening to an entire speech, which are often more than 45 minutes long, is well worth every second.  Thankfully, the King Center and others make those talks available on-line for the public to hear.  We should all listen to as many as we can.  

Below, we have copied the link to Dr King’s speech entitled “The Drum Major Instinct” and encourage you to listen to it this weekend as part of the Challenge. The talk is significant for many reasons, but it is also one of the last speeches of Dr King, delivered only two months before he was assassinated. In it he talks about his own death and how he was willing to face it for the good of others.  Enjoy!