The 2009 Drum Major Awards Luncheon honors Martin Luther King, Jr.

Intermountain Catholic

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Bishop John C. Wester said Jan. 19, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is a day of Service. We are inspired to strengthen our communities and achieve common goals.

SALT LAKE CITY — "If you want to be important, recognized, or great, that is wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant," said Martin Luther King, Jr., Feb. 4, 1968, as he delivered the "The Drum Major Instinct" sermon.

"That means everybody can be great, because everybody can serve," said King. "That is the new definition of greatness. You don’t have to have a college degree, or know Einstein’s theory of relativity, you don’t have to have your subject match your verb, you just have to agree to serve…You only need a heart full of grace, and a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant"

"Now here we are, 41 years later, and we are talking about the inauguration of historical proportion (President-elect Barack Obama), and it is with that in mind that we are having this luncheon here today," said Trystan Smith, master of ceremonies, and chairman of the Utah Martin Luther King Commission. "So I am happy, happy, to welcome you here today.

"It is an honor to be here on this day celebrating the birthday of one of the great leaders of our country, if not a great leader of the world," said Jesse Soriano, director of the State Office of Ethnic Affairs. "Martin Luther King was a man who represented everyone. He spoke about justice, civil rights, and human rights for everyone in the world. At this time in our world, it seems to be fitting that we should also remember Dr. King also spoke about peace. He was a drum major for peace."

Former Salt Lake City Mayor Palmer DePaulis, executive director of the Utah Department of Community and Culture said he was honored to have the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City as the keynote speaker. He also said, "Truly we all try to emulate the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., is also a person, in my opinion, who also exemplifies the ideals of Dr. King. He has shown that in how he governs, cares about the people of Utah, and the support he has given to our multi-cultural community."

"I am particularly honored to be in Bishop Wester’s company," said Gov. Huntsman. "We are truly honored to have a man of his capacity, sensitivity, caring, and deep spirituality in our state. I also hope you recognize the good work of Palmer De Paulis, who is a bridge builder. There is nothing more important in living the spirit of tradition and the dream of Dr. King than building bridges."

Gov. Huntsman said his message was a simple one. First he had the opportunity of developing a relationship with Bernice King.

"I met her 10 years ago, and as such was invited to her mother’s funeral, Coretta Scott King," said Gov. Huntsman. "I marveled at the life of this good person. As we celebrate this day, we remember that between 1957 and 1968, Dr. King traveled more than six million miles, gave more than 2,500 speeches, and won a Nobel Prize at age 35. He didn’t do it alone.

Gov. Huntsman said he did it with Coretta Scott King at his side, and that dream will be recognized and on very vivid display next week at the inauguration.

"We are experiencing tough times in this state," said Gov. Huntsman. "We now must pull together and reflect upon the dream of communities dropping barriers of religion, ethnicity, or geography, and building bridges, respecting, and loving each other a little bit more.

"When times are tough, we begin to recognize the importance of community," said Gov. Huntsman. "There could be no better legacy to Dr. King than a strong, vibrant, and respectful community."

Gov. Huntsman visited the Utah Food Bank and the Road Home and the community is giving even in economic hard times.

"I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to share a true reflection on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose courageous voice was muted but not silenced April 4, 1968, a little over 40 years ago," said Bishop Wester. "This coming Monday, our nation will honor a great leader in our civil rights movement, a leader that captured our imaginations and our hearts as he strove to abolish the barriers of bigotry and the walls of oppression."

What makes Dr. King great?" asked Bishop Wester. "Greatness lies in the heart, and it is only by looking into the heart that we can perceive greatness. Man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart.

"I suspect, with all due respect to Dr. King, that he sometimes failed to give the appearance of a leader," said Bishop Wester. "Many of his biographers point out that he had a reluctance to take a leadership role, and frequently had doubts about his decisions especially when protestors were hurt and even killed. And yet if we look into his heart, as God himself directs us, we see a genuine leader who overcame his human frailty and allowed God’s grace to fashion for himself a modern-day prophet who will lead his people to a promised land of freedom, where bigotry, hatred, and violence have no standing.

"He was a great leader because he allowed grace to guide him as he trusted in divine providence," said Bishop Wester. "Dr. King did lead us a long, long way. Indeed, in less than a week, an African American will stand on the steps of the Capitol and be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America. In 221 years, our country went from a nation whose Constitution recognized Blacks as only three-fifths of a human to one that has placed it hopes on Barack Obama, a young and intelligent senator from Illinois. This is a huge and marvelous blow to racism and bigotry in our country, and surely a monumental event that would make Martin Luther King, Jr., beam with pride and joy."

Bishop Wester said another reason Dr. King was a great leader is that he had courage of heart and was willing to take risks leading people on a path less traveled and, as Robert Frost would have it, that has made all the difference.

Bishop Wester said it is true that Dr. King became a great leader precisely because he had the courage to stand up to a cancer that was eating away at the moral fabric of our country. He realized the architects of our Constitution envisioned a land where people would live together and that we are all created equal.

Bishop Wester said it was the path Dr. King chose that made all the difference in his leadership. Human beings have two basic ways of responding to a threat – fight or flight. The trouble is neither is effective in the long run.

"Martin Luther King, Jr. chose a third way – the path of peaceful resistance. By standing up to the forces of benevolence, he showed his aggressors that if we live in the arms of the one in whose image we were created, we can live together in peace," said Bishop Wester.

"This third way demands more courage, more tenacity and more conviction than either of the other two alternatives," said Bishop Wester. "It is the way of a great leader that causes people to think, to grow, and to change. The leader who takes this path must also have the ability to offer an alternative to the violence he or she proposes to eradicate. Dr. King did exactly this with an unwavering commitment to the truth, an unshakable determination to hope, and a passion for unity."