MSI Press Blog

  Every January, we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — not just with quotes and commemorations, but with a call to action: make it a day on, not a day off . The MLK Day of Service invites us to roll up our sleeves and serve our communities, to embody the justice we so often admire from afar. But service, like justice, is not a one-day event. It’s not a photo op or a resume booster. It’s a posture. A practice. A way of being in the world that says, “I see you. I care. I’m willing to be inconvenienced for your dignity.” Dr. King didn’t just preach about love and justice — he lived them. He understood that service was not sentimental. It was strategic. It was disruptive. It was a way to reorder society toward equity, not just soothe its conscience. So what does that mean for us? It means that picking up litter or volunteering at a food bank — beautiful as those acts are — must be part of a larger rhythm. It means asking not just “How can I help?” but “What systems need changing so...

Today's meditation from  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living   by Dr. Frederic Craigie. -26-   Not everyone is called to a life of service—at least, not in the most obvious sense of becoming a social worker or volunteering in a soup kitchen. Indeed, many who take that path soon realize that even these activities can become divorced from the rest of your life. Service, defined broadly, can be how you interact with each person and in each situation, no matter what the circumstances are.   Gerald Jampolsky   Before she became a best-selling author, Marianne Williamson had a job for a time as a cocktail waitress. She came to realize that the most important part of this work was not serving up drinks; it was reaching out and making a personal connection, one-by-one, with patrons. Reflecting on this understanding of service, she commented that every business could be “a front for a church.” You see this understanding of servic...