I’m still having trouble convincing myself that it’s wintertime, although I know intellectually that it won’t officially be Spring till my sister’s birthday, and that’s more than two months away. But when I step outside in the morning to grab the newspaper and don’t even see my breath in front of me as I walk to the curb, it doesn’t seem like winter. Be that as it may, it’s time to think about the day when our nation pauses to reflect upon her Civil Rights history, specifically upon the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As I announced on Sunday, and as you may have heard via other sources, our Mayor, Cindy Rosenthal, is hosting an interfaith breakfast at McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church this coming Monday at 7:00 a.m. to honor Dr. King’s work. I will be attending, and if any of you would like to go, you are asked to RSVP to the Mayor’s office in advance, so that they may have a head count. You are encouraged to send an e-mail to carol.coles@normanok.gov Our church office will be closed in honor of the holiday that day.

So, what else are you planning to do on Dr. King’s Day? Even if you have to work that day, how might you take a moment to mark this important holiday? Our president has asked us to use the day as a day to volunteer in some way or another. How might you and your family volunteer? Any of you who have ever walked with me more than a couple of blocks somewhere know that I love to pick up aluminum cans and recycle them. What if you took a walk in your neighborhood, plastic bag in hand, and cleaned up as you went? What if you made a donation to a worthy cause that day? What if you wrote a letter to an active serviceperson in our military that day? For more ideas, you might look at www.mlkday.gov or www.volunteer.gov