Sunday, January 18, 1998

MLK honors given to praise ideal of service

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is not a holiday for only one race or even an occasion just to honor one American who happened to be of that race. Instead, its observance is a reminder to us all of King's enduring humanitarian ideals. And one of his fundamental beliefs was, "Everyone can be great because everyone can serve."

Today's seventh annual Martin Luther King Luncheon, to be held at the Abilene Civic Center, is intended not simply to honor King's memory but to celebrate his advocacy of the power of community service and his conviction that it is through such service that human beings achieve true greatness.

The seven winners of today's Human Service Awards have practiced what King preached and in doing so have made Abilene a better place to live.

The Late-Night Basketball mentors, receiving the Human Services Award for an Organization; Dee Waggoner, counselor at Abilene High School, receiving the Human Services Award for an individual; Carol Martinez, insurance agent, receiving the award for a small employer; the Civilian Personnel Flight at Dyess Air Force Base, awarded the honor for a large employer; Peggy Cooper, supply technician with the Mission Support Element, receiving the award for outstanding employee with a disability; and Abilene High seniors Lenecia Bowens and Casaundra Jackson, Youth Service Award winners -- all of these groups and individuals know that service is a powerful force for change, not only on this one day, but on every ordinary day of the year.

Such contributions help create a better community and a better nation by making safer streets, more effective schools, healthier children and a cleaner, more attractive environment. These individual acts add together to carry on the realization of King's ideals suggested by the theme of today's luncheon, "The Dream: From Past to Future."

Our public discussion too often focuses on the relatively unimportant ways in which we are different, rather than on the substantial humanity we share in common. As today's honorees demonstrate by their example, service is the means of getting past those barriers, of establishing the human connections, of recognizing the ties that bind us together as a community despite such superficial differences as skin color and income brackets.

"Make a career of humanity, and you will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country and a finer world to live in."

King's words express the ideal that is being commemorated in Abilene today.