"It is an honor to have the opportunity to praise and remember the life and contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King left us with enduring lessons. He left us with lessons about courage, integrity, humbleness, decency and steadfastness. Dr. King left us lessons about living life to the fullest.

He provided those lessons not just through pretty prose, but more importantly through his actions. Dr. King was a man of action. Dr. King inspired and led by example. Saint Francis of Assisi once said this: "Preach Everywhere You Go, and Sometimes Use Words ..."

Our actions do speak for us. Our actions define us. More importantly, our actions touch the lives of others. Our actions affect the world we live in. By these defining characteristics, Dr. King was surely a man of action.

A man of action as he grew up in search of his place in life, his undergraduate work in Atlanta, his seminary work in Pennsylvania and then his doctoral work in Boston were all part of a young man's commitment to making his own life valuable so that he could help add value to the lives of others. Dr. King was a man of action.

A man of action as he took the things he had learned and the experiences he had in Atlanta, and saw that the dream of America fell short for many. Dr. King saw people lacked the knowledge of their own value because their own country failed to value them. Dr. King was a man of action.

A man of action as he took his first pulpit in Selma, only steps from the Alabama State capitol. Injustice was around him. He could have preached sermons that sidetracked those injustices, but he refused to be inactive. He refused to be relegated to the back of a bus. He was a man of action.

A man of action as he crusaded throughout the South during the 1960s. Dr. King motivated and led. Dr. King went to jail. He was devalued because he fought for the value in others. Dr. King was assassinated because he stood for the lives of all. Dr. King was a man of action.

A man of action as he put value where it belonged: in the hearts and souls of everyone. Let us also be men and women of action."