On January 18, the day celebrated as the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.—why can’t it be celebrated on his actual birthday, January 15?--our church, in collaboration with six other churches, organized a Day of Service in Dr. King’s honor. There were about 10 projects that over 150 people participated in. Karen and I were in a group that went to a homeless shelter, where we cooked and served lunch to 60 residents, then played bingo (and, in my case, chess). A few other projects: organizing books at Bernie's Book Bank, which distributes used children's books to poor areas of Chicago, packing meals at Feed My Starving Children, which sends food to third world countries, and working on Project Linus, which provides hand-made blankets for critically ill children.

We started the day with a short worship service, during which I sang "I Dreamed of Martin Luther King," my father’s song that appears on his CD, “Songs of the American Dream.” You can hear his rendition of the song, at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vLQH7wLteM