If you want to be important—wonderful.
If you want to be recognized—wonderful.
If you want to be great—wonderful.
But recognize that he who is greatest
among you shall be your servant.

That’s a new definition of greatness.
And this morning, the thing that I like about it:
by giving that definition of greatness,
it means that 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 thermodynamics in physics to serve.
You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.

And you can be that servant.

(excerpt from his last sermon, “The Drum Major Instinct,” delivered on February 4, 1968. Text copyright © The King Center)

I celebrate with all people today the memory, work, and spirit of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968).
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