Category: Character

In 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. articulated the founding dream of America, the vision of our Founders for all Americans to live as “an heir of the legacy of dignity and worth.”

Today, we pause to honor the life and accomplishments of Dr. King, who helped shape the Civil Rights Movement, gave hope to millions experiencing discrimination, and whose enduring memory inspires us to pursue a more just and equal society.

In that honor, I recently read Dr. Alveda King’s King Rules: Ten Truths for You, Your Family, and Our Nation to Prosper.  Dr. Alveda King is an ordained minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a grateful mother and grandmother. She is a former college professor, author, mentor, stage and screen actress, and Georgia state legislator and presidential appointee.

Through her ministry in her local church (Believers’ Bible Christian Church in Atlanta, Georgia) and her vocation as director of African American Outreach with Priests for Life, she devotes her God-given gifts and talents of writing, singing, songwriting, producing and directing media projects, and other gifts to glorify God.

Her book King Rules offers bedrock values that have been handed down, not coincidentally, through a long line of King preachers. They are character-building, practical beliefs that transcend and overcome circumstance.

These King Rules endure because they are, at their essence, the values of Jesus Christ. They are timeless because while eras and places change, human nature does not. History shows that as hatred, cruelty, greed, and selfishness keep reappearing, they must be met with the radical truths that love is what is commanded of us, and justice is what we must seek.

Click here to continue and learn about King Rules

This month’s focus on humility culminates in a book that was on my Amazon Wish List for a few years, Humility: The Secret Ingredient of Success by Pat Williams & Jim Denney.  Hall of Fame Baseball Pitcher Ferguson Jenkins pointed out that “humility has a new publicist” in his foreward to the book.

Jenkins was invited to write the foreward since Pat Williams was one of his catchers in the Minor Leagues.  Jenkins goes on to point out, “A humble attitude is, in fact, your most important business asset. And genuine humility is not just a personality trait some people are born with. It’s a learnable skill.”

Then, he explained, “My father, Ferguson H. Jenkins, Sr., knew I had my sights set on a baseball career, and he told me, ‘Once you turn pro, keep your ego in check. Humility is a part of maturity. Learning to play the game and becoming a winning pitcher — that’s only the beginning. To be a real winner, you have to stay humble.’  Humility is the ability to keep your accomplishments in perspective, so that you treat everybody with kindness and respect, from coaches to teammates to fans.”

Click here to learn more from Pat Williams on Humility