How Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Changed My Direction in Life
Martin Luther King Jr. changed many lives. He changed mine in 2008.
At the time, I was serving in ministry at my home church—a good place, and a comfortable one. But it was clear that season was ending. The question wasn’t if I would leave, but what came next.
I saw two options:
Apply to serve as a preacher somewhere else, or
Go back to school.
Kristen and I decided to step away for a few days and think. We took a retreat to Colorado with one simple purpose: to reflect on the previous five years and discern what was next.
In the lodge where we were staying, I found a biography of Dr. King. I picked it up and read it cover to cover.
For years, I had admired his oratory, his courage, and the way he wove faith into public life. But this time, something new stood out to me. One reason Dr. King was chosen to be a public leader wasn’t only his conviction or charisma—it was the two letters before his name.
Dr.
His education opened doors. It gave him credibility in rooms of power and allowed his voice to carry further. That realization mattered more to me than I expected.
During that retreat, largely inspired by Dr. King’s example, Kristen and I decided that I would go back to school.
That decision changed the trajectory of my life.
It led to exposure to a more expansive view of faith and the world (with deep gratitude to Tom Thatcher and Jon Weatherly). It qualified me for the role of Director of Chaplaincy at Parkview Health. Eventually, it led to earning a graduate certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Cornell University.
Today, as I watch news coming out of Minnesota and witness the continued rise of violence, polarization, and othering in our country, I find myself returning again to Dr. King’s words—and to his insistence that justice requires persistence.
“No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
