Martin Luther King Jr.- The Drum Major Instinct

Today I was inspired! I was inspired by my 10 year old son.

Our school district held a competition for grades K-12 to deliver a speech that  Martin Luther King Jr. gave. With a lot of coaching from a special teacher at his school, he learned and recited one the most inspiring speeches I have ever heard. In it's entirety, the sermon was almost 40 minutes. It was given in 1968 just days before his assassination. In it he talks about the drum major instinct. He explains that it is an instinct of a quest for recognition to be better than someone else. It is an instinct that should be "harnessed".  He says, "it drives us and sometimes leads to selfish behavior and in some cases in history, leads to the most tragic expressions of man's inhumanity to man."

So as I thought about this drum major instinct, I think I have this instinct a lot. But the drum major instinct is real in all of us. We want to be important, we want to be first. If we want to be important, that's great! We can be important by not screaming at the 3 year old that just wrote with marker all over the wall. We will be great in their eyes. We can earn greatness by love. We can be the first to come the aid for someone else. We all have the ability to be a drum major! We all can serve! We have the ability to be a drum major for others and not ourselves. We can live our lives to HELP others. It doesn't matter what things we have that show what amazing human beings we are. MLK says he wants to be known as a drum major for justice, for peace....for righteousness! I love that! He was certainly that! The more I learn about him, the more I am inspired by his spirit and influence. I believe that I can be a drum major in a more positive way. I want to be known as someone that cared for people and reached out to those around me with tenderness. I want my children to be a drum major for truth. I hope I can be a drum major for joy, for family.....for love!
I hope this little boy's rendition of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech inspires you!

Josh's speech

here is the link to the entire sermon given by Martin Luther King Jr. February 4th 1968:
MLK drum major instinct