Living the vision

I remember the day Coretta Scott King and Stevie Wonder, along with a host of others who had done their part to complete the 15-year journey, stood behind President Ronald Reagan as he signed the King Holiday Bill into law on Nov. 2, 1983.

“This is not a black holiday; it is a people’s holiday,” said Coretta, because service was at the heart of the movement and still is at the heart of his dream. Dr. Martin Luther King lived out his faith in the public eye, and as he served others and advocated for justice, he left a model for us today. Coretta wanted to make that clear from the very beginning.

For people of faith, this holiday gives us a collective chance to step up our game, to reflect and do something, to roll up our sleeves. How are you honoring Rev. King’s vision today? How do you live it every day?

This is adapted from “Observing Martin Luther King Jr. day,” a blog post written by Valora K Starr that was published on January 21, 2011, on the Women of the ELCA blog.