Just another day at the office?

Unless you work for a bank or the government, including many school systems and the post office, you’re probably at work today even though it is a federal holiday.

Four days after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was gunned down in Memphis—April 4, 1968—John Conyers (D-MI) introduced legislation calling for a Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday. It wasn’t until 1986 that the federal holiday became law.

It’s a bonus holiday in Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi; state employees have the day off to honor both King and General Robert E. Lee.

The U.S. government Web site for MLK day calls on Americans to “Make it a day on, not a day off!,” urging citizens to honor King’s legacy by taking part in a service project in their community on the holiday.

It’s worth pondering on this day what our society might look like if Martin Luther King, Jr., had simply kept his personal values, shaped by his faith, in the pulpit and off the streets, so to speak. It’s not a pretty picture that comes to mind.

Dr. King’s bold and very public stands for equal justice and against racial discrimination changed our culture for the better. With great resolve and certain risk, he worked for that which he knew was right.

Martin Luther King, Jr., is prime evidence of what happens when one man committed to extraordinary ideals lives his values out loud!