Of Dreams, Justice And Service

I work in a cubicle.  Instead of walls, I am separated from my co-workers by partitions covered with thumbtack-able fabric.  Each of my co-workers has a different strategy for making their cubicle look less sterile and more like “home”.  My favorite corner of my cubicle is this poster, which gives me a daily reminder of one of my favorite Martin Luther King Jr. quotes, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice.”

Tomorrow, August 28, 2010, is the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  There will be a variety of groups in Washington DC tomorrow who are using the anniversary of the march and of the famous “I Have A Dream” speech to promote their own agendas.  Instead of getting sucked in to the controversy surrounding this year’s anniversary, I’ve decided to reflect on the words of Dr. King and to think about how his words inspire me in my work here at St. Anthony Foundation.

Dr. King spoke about service, and the following quote reminds me of our wonderful and generous volunteers and interns:

“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

It was exactly the type of audacity that Dr. King describes below that led to the founding of our free Dining Room almost 60 years ago.

“I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”

As St. Anthony Foundation’s Advocacy Coordinator, I am especially inspired by Dr. King’s words about taking difficult stands on important issues:

“Many people fear nothing more terribly than to take a position which stands out sharply and clearly from the prevailing opinion. The tendency of most is to adopt a view that is so ambiguous that it will include everything and so popular that it will include everybody. Not a few men who cherish lofty and noble ideals hide them under a bushel for fear of being called different.”

I’ll end this post with a call to action!  Dr. King said that, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”  I hope that the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom will inspire people to stop being silent and to speak out about what matters to them.  Whether you “speak out” by volunteering your time to help someone in need, making a donation to a cause you believe in, contacting an elected official about an issue that matters to you, or talking to your children about poverty and justice, I hope that you’ll take a moment this weekend to interrupt the silence with your powerful voice!