By JOHN HOLMAN
For the Auburn Reporter

Happy Martin Luther King Day.

Doesn’t really roll off the tongue, does it?

I think most of us see the holiday as an extra day off, a three-day weekend or a chance to sleep in.

How are you going to observe Dr. King’s birthday? What should I do on America’s newest national holiday in fitting remembrance of Dr. King?

His holiday is observed on the third Monday of January. But this year, his actual birthday, Jan. 15, will fall on Sunday. So I am sure many congregations in our community will honor the man and his vision of an inclusive America.

Come Monday, the holiday, I would like to think that Dr. King would be pleased that many of us will enjoy a leisurely day off from school or work.

We live in a community because, for the vast majority of us, the quality of life is better together than alone. In Auburn, there is a real sense of community. Many of our citizens recognize that we are dependent upon one another.

I don’t know if Dr. King ever visited Washington state, but I do know that he would recognize Auburn’s commitment to community. I make this assertion from the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

“In a real sense all life is interrelated. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”

To really honor the spirit of Dr. King this coming Monday, I don’t need a stale holiday greeting. I don’t need to give presents, prepare a family feast or shoot off fireworks. I think the best way I could celebrate his life and legacy would be in service to a neighbor. Perform a simple act of kindness for another. If your neighbor’s garbage can got knocked over Sunday night, quietly pick up the spilled garbage for him on Monday morning. Dr. King would smile.

You might find yourself out shopping and decide to drop off a grocery sack at the Auburn Food Bank or a check at Auburn Youth Resources. Large deed, or small, organized charity or random kindness, it won’t matter what act or action you choose to do. Be inspired by Dr. King’s words:

“Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

So what comes from all these random acts of community service? Well, perhaps Auburn, our community, our home, will be a tiny bit better place to live, and Dr. King would be proud.

John Hayes Holman, a longtime resident, serves on the Auburn City Council. Reach him at jholman@auburnwa.gov.