Recently in school we have been learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We even took a field trip to the King Center in Atlanta. I noticed that Dr. King is similar to Jesus because he made a lot of speeches and wanted everyone to help each other. He was also really brave because he had to talk in front of a lot of people, and he knew that there were some people who did not want him to be saying what he said, which is that everyone should love each other. He even knew that some people wanted to kill him, but he kept talking to people and saying what he wanted to say.

Like Jesus, Dr. King followed God and listened to God even though others did not believe in what he was saying. Some people wanted white people to stay separate from black people because they thought that white people were better than black people, but Dr. King wanted no more segregation. He knew that Jesus always wanted everyone to love each other, no matter what people looked like. Dr. King also knew that Jesus did not want us to fight each other. Even though people were really mean to him, he still loved them and did not act mean back to them. He taught people nonviolence and passive resistance and to trust in God.

The hymn They’ll Know We Are Christians was written by Peter Scholtes in the 1960s when the Civil Rights Movement was happening. Mr. Scholtes wanted to have a hymn that his choir could sing for interracial events, so he wrote this one. It says that everyone is “one in the Spirit” and that “we pray that all unity may one day be restored”. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jesus wanted unity and love for us. If we can remember that, then everyone can be happy.

Prayer: Dear God, I want to be like Jesus and Dr. King. I want to love people and treat people with respect. I want to be brave enough to do the right thing. Thank you for Jesus and Dr. King and other people who lead us to do good things. Amen.