Monday, January 18, 2010

Martin Luther King Jr.


Today was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and therefore this past weekend people across the nation celebrated by participating in community service. I commemorated his work by doing some civil service of my own and on Saturday I spent five hours at a local business painting. It was a very enjoyable process and it really got me thinking about people giving themselves to their community and their world. As I suited up for what obviously going to be a rather difficult day of work, I was feeling a little anxious as to what was ahead of me. When I got to the building I was rather timid in going in because part of me knew I would be the only teenager helping out that day and I would also not know who any of the other people were. We were showed the level that we were to paint and then slowly we all kind of tapered off a section that we would work on by ourselves. It worried me a little that no one was really telling me what to do because I feared that I was going to do something terribly wrong. After getting over my first couple of fears I started to tape off the spot I had been placed in. It was this little lounge that had a balcony that looked over the main level so that I could see the offices below. I liked the position but it involved a lot of taping. As I was taping and working on this room alone I was definitely feeling good about the fact I was helping the community but also the fact that I could sit here and work while still be able to think internally about the thoughts on my mind; that was probably my favorite part of the whole day. I like to go inside myself and just think about anything and everything and it was a good time to do that. We had a small break to eat and get something to drink and this was the first time we had to really conversate as a group. The others talked so much of their work in and around the community and how one’s entire life was put into projects to help poverty at the moment. It was rather an unusual thought to me that someone would put so much of their life into their community. It really gave me something else to think about when I finished up my painting and the five hours. As the time was coming to an end, we all cleaned up and said our farewells but everyone’s efforts and the time there will always be remembered in the newly painted walls of a building hit by the flood just two years ago. It was a good way to remember the work that Martin Luther King Jr. had done himself and think of others who have dedicated their lives to the cause.

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