Martin Luther King Jr Day

I went to work as usual. I was deeply unsettled by MLK’s assassination the night before. As morning wore on, my brain ceased to focus on work. I told my boss I needed to go home and gather my wits. He said OK.

Once home I visited my church pastor and asked him about his decision to enter seminary. His was a family tradition he long felt to continue. Mine was not so. I had some family traditions of this calling, but my father skipped the call and answered the call of aeronautic engineering. But me? I worried about our society failing to understand race relations and the coherence of history, immigration and integrating freed slaves. Discrimination then was horrible, and violence was frequent. This was an illness needing a solution. I wondered if seminary and churches were powerful enough to do such work.

I decided yes. Both my grandfather and great grandfather had been Congregational ministers after attending Chicago Theological Seminary. Then it was located at Washington and Halsted streets near the Loop. Today it is on the campus of the University of Chicago.

I found my way to the seminary and started the enrollment process. Shortly thereafter I was accepted and enrolled in the September 1968 term.  Peace descended on me. I knew this decision was right for me.

The first year was intense but positive. I learned what the church could do and what it likely could not do. By the end of the academic year, May 1969, I left the seminary, returned to work, this time human resources. Nearly three years later after many quirks, the University of Illinois at Chicago hired me as Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. The position was magical for me. I felt certain we were addressing many of the issues that stalled society’s acceptance and integration of differences among her people. Nearly 18 years later, I left the campus to continue my work in non-profit organizations.

All my career callings stemmed from the horrific death of MLK Jr. He was a man of peace and discernment. He challenged everyone to do what they could to heal a sick society. I struggled to define what I could do and then did it. I don’t know if all these decisions were a perfect answer to his challenge, but it felt right for me at the time. It became a grand journey of exploration and discovery.

Yes, I was and am a fan of The Reverend, Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. I revere the fact that our nation has a holiday set aside just for him. It is well deserved. It still means a great deal to me.

Society still suffers from the illnesses of his time, but maybe we have made a difference since then? Fifty-eight years is a lifetime since his death. Were these years productive? If so, how much work remains for us to do?

January 19, 2026

 

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